Fighting Down Memory Lane
by Supervillegirl
Summary: Six months after the Beach City Grill gang gets their happy endings, Priestly's past comes out full blast, Winchester style.
1. Chapter 1

Fighting Down Memory Lane

Prologue

He opened his eyes, blinking against the bright lights of the hospital room.

_Hospital room?_

He looked around the white sterile room in confusion, searching for some clue as to how he got here. He didn't recall whatever accident had put him there, so clearly, he had suffered a head injury.

_The last thing I remember was…was…_

But try as he might, he couldn't remember a thing before he woke up here. No job, no school, no hometown, no friends, no family, not even a name.

_Oh, God…_

He looked down at his blanket-covered body, spotting his arms resting on his chest on top of the blanket. There were scrapes and bruises on his skin, looking pretty fresh. He took this time to take stock of what injuries he could find.

Most of his body ached for whatever reason. It felt like he had overworked himself or something. His head throbbed sickeningly in time with his heartbeat, making the room buzz around him. Something itched and pulled across his chest just under his left collarbone; he suspected stitches. There was also something hard wrapped around his left leg.

He tried like hell to remember what had led to his injuries, but nothing came to him. He only had this vague sense telling him he was supposed to be doing something right now…something important. And he wasn't really sure why, but he didn't like being stuck in the hospital.

He pulled the blanket away from his torso as he sat up, flinging an arm out clumsily as the room turned on its head. He steadied himself before pulling his legs over to the side of the bed. He barely had time to register the cast covering the lower half of his left leg and knee before the door of his room opened. His head shot up to look at the nurse in the doorway, which was a mistake as the throb behind his eyes worsened. The room spun, and he was pretty sure he was starting to keel over.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Mr. Priestly!" the nurse exclaimed as hands grasped his shoulders. "You can't get up right now. You need rest, and you have a broken leg."

"No, I have to go," he told her insistently, ignoring the impulse to shake his head to disperse the dizziness; that would only make things worse. "I have to be somewhere."

"Where?" asked the nurse bracingly.

He sighed in despair at his inability to answer her question, looking her in the eye. "I don't know."

The nurse nodded expectantly as she got him back onto the bed. "Well, you need rest right now. You're really banged up."

"But—" he began.

"Tell you what, today's dessert is apple pie," she told him. "If I get you a slice, will you stay put till the doctor comes?"

He stared at her for a moment before shrugging. "Well, who can say no to pie?"

The nurse smiled at him and helped get his cast back under the blankets. "Alright, but stay in bed. Right now, you wouldn't make it to the hall." She turned and headed towards the door.

"Wait, wait," he stopped her, frowning. "What did you call me? Priestly?"

The nurse frowned at him. "You mean your name?" She stopped sadly at his blank look. "You don't know your own name?"

He gave her a serious and scared look. "I don't know anything."

The nurse's eyes grew wide slightly. "I'll get your doctor." She turned to the door.

"Priestly?" he asked. "My name's Priestly?" He shrugged after she nodded. "Not bad. How did you guys know?"

"We got your name off an insurance card," she told him. "It was the only ID you had on you. Your name is Boaz Priestly."

He frowned over at her. "Boaz? Really, Boaz?"

The nurse smiled a little. "I'll be back with the doctor." She turned towards the door again.

"And the pie," he reminded her.

She smiled as she reached the door, glancing at him. "And the pie. But you stay put or you don't get a bite." She turned and left the room.

He looked back down at his bruised and battered body, spotting the plastic hospital band he hadn't noticed before, with the name Boaz Priestly written on it.

_Boaz? My parents couldn't have picked a better name? I'd take anything over that: Bob, Randy, Luke, John, Sam, anything._

He was definitely gonna have to start going by something other than Boaz.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One

**And a special note to DellaVie: Your first guess was actually pretty close, as you're about to find out in this chapter and the next. There were a couple things in your guess, however, that were a little off. I hope you enjoy this chapter, you smarty-pants!**

**Just so you know, I'm making up all last names (except Priestly, Trucker, Julia and her dad, and Fuzzy22) because there weren't any in the movie.**

Piper James set the dry plate down and picked up the next wet one. Today was her dish duty day. She and Tish Hawkins usually took turns. They each had their unspoken, unlabeled jobs at the sub shop. Tish and Piper took turns waitressing and doing the dishes, Boaz Priestly was the cook, Jen Merold was the order-slash-computer girl, and Trucker Hancock was in charge of the store and the books. The five of them got along so well; they were like one big family. In some cases, literally.

It had been six months since Trucker and Zo Rosen got married on the beach that beautiful, sunny day. Everything was really starting to look up for them all. Piper and Noah Miller were starting to really grow close. Even Noah's daughter Julia was beginning to look up to her as a mother figure. Priestly and Tish were getting serious, so much so that it was bringing out a side of their smartass, dyed Mohawk-wearing, tattooed, pierced friend that they rarely saw. And Jen and Jeff Kenline…Well, that was the topic of conversation tonight as they got ready to close.

"So, the guests are gonna throw birdseed since rice gets stuck in the birds' throats, swells and then chokes them," Jen told them from her spot at the computer.

"Good idea," Tish told her as she passed on her way to a table with a plate of food.

"And the reception will be at Trucker's place since he's got that beautiful backyard," Jen went on.

"And don't worry," Trucker told her from the back booth where he was balancing the revenue numbers. "I'm paying the neighbor's kid to cut back the weeds on Saturday. It'll be all ready for your big day, angel."

"Thanks, Trucker," Jen smiled at him.

The tiny bell at the door jingled as it opened, and two men walked in. Piper noticed that they looked pretty tired, yet they seemed on guard. She figured ex-military; a soldier's training taught them to be ready for anything. She'd seen it enough in her father to recognize it on others.

The older of the two looked to be in his early fifties, yet still in shape. Piper imagined that when he got older, he would be one of those silver foxes like Harrison Ford or George Clooney. The younger, on the other hand, was extremely cute…and tall. Piper thought Priestly was tall, but this guy managed to top him, even if it was only by a few inches. The young man that appeared somewhere between twenty-one and twenty-five had some similar facial features as the older man.

_Father and son, probably,_ Piper thought.

"You're not closed, are you?" asked the father.

"Nope, you still got time," Trucker told them. "You'll have the place all to yourself." He gestured at the empty dining room.

"Thank you," the son told them, approaching the counter with his father.

"What'll it be?" asked Jen, abandoning her wedding plans on the computer to write down their order.

"A six inch Italian beef," the father told her.

"I'll have a ten inch veggie sub," the son said.

"Alright, one Italian beef, one veggie," Jen told them, writing it out on her pad.

"Coming right up," Priestly said, not having turned from the stove behind the counter.

Piper watched the son glance over Priestly's plaid kilt, hot pink shirt, tattoos, and the back of his green Mohawk in amused interest before he and the father headed for a table by the door, taking a seat and discussing something in hushed voices.

"You know, Jen, I was wondering," began Priestly. "Once you and Fuzzy get hitched, does that mean you're throwing out the computer?"

"Well, we still get online orders, so…no," Jen told him. "And his name is Jeff, Priestly."

"No, I'm sticking with Fuzzy," said Priestly, scooping the beef from the grill and plopping it back onto the surface.

"Just don't call him that to his face," Jen told him with an affectionate smile.

"Works for me," said Priestly, throwing the veggies onto the grill to cook.

"Okay, so…" began Jen, turning back to the computer, "I got my two bridesmaids Tish and Piper, my sister Angie as the maid of honor, Julia as the flower girl, Trucker is giving me away, and Priestly will be getting his friend's band to play at the reception."

"Sounds like a plan," Piper told her, grateful that Jen had included her surrogate daughter in the wedding.

"I'm sorry you couldn't participate more in the wedding," Jen told Priestly.

"Hey, I'm just happy to help out," Priestly told her as he finished grilling and put the separate ingredients on the sandwiches. "You need anything done, cal me. I'll be your errand boy."

Tish stepped up next to him and grabbed the two plates of food. "Aren't you just the sweetest?"

"Always," said Priestly, leaning his head down and giving her a kiss.

Piper smiled at the show of affection as Tish took the plates to the guests' table.

"Enjoy," Tish told them as she headed over to the counter again.

"You and Priestly seem to be doing great," Piper told her.

Tish picked up a towel, drying dishes with Piper. "We are. There's just this…side to him I've never really noticed, you know?"

Piper **did** know. They never really talked about it since it wasn't really all that important, but they all could sense something about Priestly, something that he didn't talk about. They didn't notice that side of him very often, so they never brought it up.

"He was right," said Tish. "I was too busy admiring the wrapping paper that I never stopped to enjoy what was inside."

"Wow, deep," Piper said, turning to set some dry dishes on the stack behind them. "So, what's it like _being_ with a guy and not just screwing him?"

A smile appeared on Tish's face. "Amazing. I never thought it could be like this, you know? At least not till middle age when I find that one perfect person, but…"

Piper narrowed her eyes at Tish's secretive look. "What? Come on, spill."

"I think **he** might be the one," Tish told her.

Piper gave her a smile. "No way! Really?"

"Yeah, " said Tish. "I mean, he's kind, funny, incredibly loving, passionate…I think this might be it."

"I'm so happy for you!" exclaimed Piper, giving her a hug. "You've come such a long way!"

"And proud of it," said Tish as they went back to the dishes.

Sometime during their hushed conversation, the discussion at the other end of the counter had turned from wedding plans to Elvis Presley.

"Come on, Priestly," said Trucker, who had finished his paperwork and was standing next to Jen at the counter. "The coroner's records say he suffered a cardiac arrest, most likely from an overdose. Why would they report that if he was still alive?"

"Duh, the coroner was in on the take," Priestly argued, having now turned towards Jen and Trucker.

"You're saying someone paid them off?" said Jen dubiously.

"Obviously," Priestly told her. "RCA Victor was losing money. The guy had gotten fat, drug-addicted and lazy. They were losing their biggest meal ticket."

Tish and Piper shook their heads fondly as Priestly rambled on.

"They paid him to disappear and made a fortune from his records," Priestly continued. "After all, an artist's work never sells better than after they're dead."

Piper glanced over at their two customers to see if they were doing okay, and she found the cute son staring with wide eyes at Priestly. She tuned out the conspiracy theory at the counter to hear them.

"Dad, I'm not seeing things, right?" said the son. "That really is him?"

The father was narrowing his eyes at Priestly, frowning in confusion. "I don't know, Sam. But I think it might be."

_Sam, what a great name,_ Piper thought before shoving that thought aside and focusing on what was important. _Do they know Priestly?_

"Isn't that a little overkill?" suggested Jen.

"Hey, people are greedy, selfish bastards," shrugged Priestly.

"Fake-killing Elvis so his record sales will skyrocket?" Trucker said with a brow raised.

"Well, it's not like he minded," said Priestly. "It gave him an excuse to sit at home with his drugs all day. Plus, he probably gets a cut from the sales."

Piper watched as the guy named Sam slowly stood and halfway approached the counter, hope seeming to shine from his face.

"Dean?" said Sam slowly.

Piper frowned. _Dean?_

This guy must be mistaken. He probably mixed him up with someone else. All the same, Sam still stared at Priestly with longing promise.

Piper looked over at Tish, who had noticed Sam's odd behavior by now.

"Priestly, it's a known fact that Elvis died in 1977," Trucker told him. "There are witnesses and records."

"I'm telling you, they were all bribed with hush money," Priestly defended.

"Dean?" Sam tried again, a little louder this time.

Piper stepped forward towards her three friends, who were still oblivious to Sam's presence. "Is everything okay?"

Sam's father joined his son in front of the counter. "Is that really you, Dean?"

The argument had frozen at Piper's question, and all five of them now stared at the two men.

Priestly frowned at the stares directed at him and glanced around him before looking back at them. "Excuse me?"

A smile broke out on Sam's face. "Dean, I can't believe we found you! We were starting to think you were dead!"

Priestly tilted his head a little as his frown deepened. "Um…I think you got the wrong guy. I don't know any Dean. My name's Priestly."

The relieved expression began to falter on Sam's face. "But you…" He looked at his father. "It **is** him, right?"

"He doesn't remember…" the father stated with a stunned look on his face.

Piper glanced at Priestly as an unreadable expression glanced across his face very quickly, practically imperceptible.

"Okay, I really think you guys have the wrong guy," Priestly told them, his face growing wary of the two strangers.

"Dean, you have to believe us," Sam urged, stepping up to the counter. "We've been looking for you for two years."

Priestly's eyes narrowed slightly. "Okay, this isn't funny—"

"Scar on your left bicep, looks like something cut you?" said the father. "Birthmark that looks like a crooked star just under your right shoulder blade?"

Priestly's eyes widened as he just stared at him, his head shaking back and forth ever so slightly.

"You have a little bronze head amulet on a necklace?" said Sam.

Priestly's head froze as his jaw dropped open a little.

"It's us, Dean," Sam insisted. "Your dad and your brother."

Piper turned wide eyes onto Priestly, hardly believing her ears. Were these two men really Priestly's family? He never did talk about any family. But, then, why were they calling him Dean?

Priestly stared in what looked like disbelief at these two men before he suddenly brought his fist forward into Sam's nose. The four grill-mates watched in stunned alarm as Sam reeled back, whipping his head back to give Priestly a shocked and affronted look.

"Where the hell were you?" Priestly yelled at him, a pissed and yet spooked look in his eyes.

Sam and his father stared in incomprehension as Priestly shouted.

"What kind of people _abandon_ their family?" Priestly yelled. "I was completely alone…for _months_! How dare you!"

Priestly turned and stormed past them all into the back room. Piper glanced back at the two men who had upset her friend before hurrying after Priestly with the others as Trucker kicked the two guys out of the shop.

_What the hell just happened?_ Piper thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Two

Priestly stormed through the archway into the back room, stalking over to a row of shelves and leaning his hands on them.

_It can't be real…It can't be…_

This whole time, he'd waited, and now, they just…What right did those two have in just showing up after they abandoned him?

"Priestly, what happened?" asked Tish, walking over to him and placing a hand on his arm. "Are you okay?"

Priestly didn't respond. He wasn't really sure what he'd tell her in the first place.

"Priestly, did you know them?" asked Jen from behind him.

Priestly hesitated before sighing. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" asked Piper. "What do you mean?"

Priestly slowly turned towards the door, finding his four friends in the storage room with him. He never thought he would be telling them about his past.

"Two years ago, I woke up in a hospital room," Priestly told them. "I was hurt pretty bad, but…I couldn't remember how I'd gotten hurt. I couldn't remember anything. I still don't."

"You have amnesia?" asked Tish.

Priestly looked over at her and nodded. "The only thing I knew was my name. I got it from the doctors who found an insurance card on me. I spent two months in that hospital. I kept waiting for someone to come through that door and hug the life outta me, but…no one came. When I was released, I shacked up in a shelter. Didn't know if I had a home or a job, so…"

Priestly tilted his head towards the dining area. "Then, one day, I walked through that front door."

****************************************SPN/TIH*** ************************************************** ********************

_Priestly stepped through the door to the Beach City Grill, looking around the dining area. It was a small little joint filled with surfer/fishing décor. A blonde girl sat at the counter on a computer, typing away. Priestly glanced over to see the back of a brunette girl heading into the back._

_The blonde girl took in his bizarre appearance quickly before smiling. "Hi. What can I get for you?"_

_Priestly was starting to get used to the stares. He had expected people to start giving him looks when he had decided to go with his new look. But he didn't care; he liked his new look._

"_Um…" mumbled Priestly, digging in his pocket for the five dollar bill he'd found in the street this morning. "How much will this buy me?"_

"_A six-inch with fries," the girl told him, tucking some of her short blonde hair behind her ear._

"_I'll take it," he told her, passing the bill over to her on the counter._

"_What kind?" she asked while depositing the money in the till._

"_Uh…what's good?" asked Priestly. Even after the three months since waking in the hospital, he still didn't really know what kind of food he preferred._

"_Well, I make a mean tofurkey," the girl told him._

_Priestly grimaced in disgust at the thought. "Ugh. How about a…spicy Italian with jalapeño?"_

_The girl chuckled. "I can do that."_

"_Thanks," said Priestly, heading and sitting down at a table._

_He glanced over to see the guy at the next table had stacks of paper in front of him. His hair was mostly short, but he did have a thin, braided ponytail that fell a little past his shoulder. Priestly wasn't a hundred percent, but he was pretty sure he was looking at a hippie._

_Footsteps sounded from behind the counter, and Priestly looked up to see a brunette girl walking in from the back room. He felt his jaw drop slightly as he stared at her. She was amazingly beautiful, and he wasn't just saying 'cause of her looks. There was just something about her that he found attractive. It was the eyes. Her eyes spoke wonders about the person inside that bombshell of a body; the eyes told him there was more than some superficial babe in there._

"_Hey, Jen, can you close tonight?" asked the brunette._

"_Yeah, sure," said the blonde—Jen—as she worked the stove. "Got plans?"_

"_Oh, yeah," said the brunette with a coy smile. "Got a date with Alex."_

_Priestly's heart dropped a little. _Well, there goes my plan to ask her out.

"_You think this one will last?" asked Jen._

"_I hope," said the brunette as she dried some plates. "He is so hot."_

_Priestly inwardly scoffed a little. _Okay, maybe she is superficial.

"_Just make sure he doesn't have a motorcycle this time," the man at the next table told them. "'Kay, angel?"_

Huh, he works here,_ Priestly thought, looking at his paperwork. _Must be the owner. And what was that he'd called her?

_Does that mean the brunette's name was Angel? It was an incredibly beautiful name that suited her perfectly._

_The two girls giggled at the obvious inside joke. This place seemed to be like one big family._

_Priestly's gaze turned to the table in front of him. _Must be nice…

_In the two months of his hospital stay, he hadn't had a single visitor. Not once did anyone come looking for him. What kind of family did he have that they wouldn't visit? Or…what kind of person was __**he**__ that no one visited?_

"_Here you go."_

_Priestly smiled up at the brunette as she set the plate of sandwich and fries down on the table. "Thanks."_

"_No problem," she said. "Enjoy." She headed back to the counter to finish the dishes._

_Priestly picked up the sandwich and took a big bite, groaning in delight at the meaty goodness. This was easily the best sandwich he'd had in his entire life. Well…the last three months._

"_You're hungry, huh?" said the owner at the next table as Priestly stuffed some fries into his mouth._

_Priestly looked at him and swallowed the majority of the mouthful. "I can't remember the last time I had a meal this good."_

Literally, _he added mentally._

_He dug back into his meal with gusto. After a few bites, he glanced up to see the guy watching him._

"_What?" asked Priestly._

"_You doing okay?" asked the guy._

_Priestly frowned. "Why would you ask?"_

_The guy shrugged. "Just a feeling."_

_Priestly looked down at the table, not really wanting to open up to a complete stranger. "I've, uh…been going through some hard times lately."_

"_How hard?" asked the owner, putting his pen down._

_Priestly looked back up at him, deciding if he should trust this guy or not. The decision came to him as those reliant eyes stared into his._

"_Homeless shelter," Priestly told him._

_The guy's brows contracted in concern. "What happened?"_

"_Hospital bills," Priestly shrugged. "Had to move out of the apartment. Still trying to find a job."_

"_Oh, that sucks," the owner said. He glanced over at the two girls at the counter, a contemplative look on his face._

_Priestly polished off his sandwich as the owner finally spoke up again._

"_Tell you what," said the owner, pointing at the stove. "You get over there and make me even a halfway decent lunch, you got yourself a job."_

_Priestly's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"_

"_Yeah, why not?" said the guy. "You seem like a good guy. I even have an extra room at my place. You're welcome to stay till you can get your own place."_

"_That's…thank you!" said Priestly, overwhelmed._

"_But only if you can cook," said the guy, nodding at the stove with a smile._

_Priestly shrugged. "I can try. Anything specific?"_

"_Surprise me," the guy told him._

_Priestly tossed the last of the fries into his mouth and got up from the table. The two girls watched with smile as Priestly walked behind the counter, looking through the ingredients to pick something._

"_Welcome to the team," Jen told him._

"_Well, I don't know if I have the job yet," Priestly told her, filling a pot with sauce._

"_Well, how hard can cooking be?" said the brunette with a smile. "Even if you are a guy."_

_Priestly smiled over at her. "I'll let you know, Angel."_

_The brunette laughed as the other two joined in. "Not Angel. Tish."_

And yet, still a beautiful name,_ he thought._

"_Priestly," he told her._

_Tish smiled at him and gestured at the stove. "Let's see what you got, Mohawk boy."_

_Priestly glanced upwards at his blue Mohawk as he chuckled. _This place might just work for me, after all.

*********************************************SPN/T IH************************************************ ******************

"So, that's why you didn't fill out an application," said Piper.

"Good thing," said Priestly, looking at Trucker. "I don't know what I would've put on that thing if you'd given me one." He chuckled lightly as the others joined in.

"So, does that mean those two really are your family?" asked Trucker.

Priestly shrugged with an unsure frown. "I mean, they knew stuff that no random stranger should know, but…" his frown deepened, "where the hell were they? At least out of curiosity, they had to wonder when I suddenly wasn't there anymore."

"Well, that one guy said they'd been looking for you for two years," said Jen.

"They must not have looked very hard," Priestly muttered. "I mean, they're obviously locals. How could they have not found me in this town in two years? It's not like I was trying to hide." He gestured at his clothes and hair.

Then again, Priestly wasn't too sure he used to dress and look like this. It was after the hospital when he'd decided to go with the new look. Maybe he **had** run into those two at some point, and they just hadn't recognized him.

"I just wish…" began Priestly.

"What?" asked Tish.

"I wish I'd thought to ask 'em some questions, you know?" said Priestly. "Not just…punched and yelled at 'em. It was just that…I spent every day waiting for someone to visit, and as the days went by and no one showed, that hope slowly changed to anger. Hell, I've spent the last two years angry at whoever didn't come."

"Tell you what," said Trucker. "Let's all close up for the night and go home to get some rest, see what tomorrow brings. If these two really are family worth having, I'm sure they won't give up just 'cause your amnesiac self punched 'em."

Priestly smiled a little. "Yeah, sounds like a plan."

Tish stepped in front of him, pulling him down into a hug. He gripped tight onto her, knowing she could feel the fear and anger shaking him.

"It's okay," Tish told him softly, a hand on the back of his head.

Priestly took a breath to calm himself and pulled away, looking her in the eye. "Thank you." He gave her a kiss before turning to follow the others back up front. He stopped, though, before getting to the doorway.

"What is it, Priestly?" asked Tish as the others looked back at him.

Priestly shuffled nervously on his feet. "Could you, um…look to see if they're somewhere on the street watching for me?"

Piper nodded. "Sure."

She and the other two headed back up to the front. Tish elected to stay back with him.

"Everything's gonna be okay," Tish told him, taking hold of his hand. "I promise."

Priestly smiled at her as he tightened his grip on her hand. His emotions were so mixed about what would come tomorrow. Terror filled him at the idea of facing the two strangers, and yet, anxiety competed at the fact that maybe he'd found his family at last.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Three

Tish tore the slip off of her order pad and stuck it into Priestly's violet spikes all over his head. He gave her a smile as he pulled the slip down and glanced at it, turning back to the stove.

"So…" said Jen, turning towards Priestly, "did those guys find you yet?"

Priestly glanced over at her. "Not yet. Not sure if that's good or bad."

"Hey, if they show up with your past, we'll deal," said Piper. "If they back off, we'll be here. Everything's gonna be okay." She gave him a smile.

Priestly smiled back at her, looking back down at the stove and finishing up the simple meal. "Order up!"

Tish walked over with a plate, and Priestly plopped the sub down on it with the spatula.

"Hey, Priestly, you mind taking inventory?" asked Trucker as he walked over to take his place at the stove.

"Sure thing, boss man," Priestly told him, taking off his apron and accepting the clipboard Trucker held out.

Trucker put on an apron as Priestly disappeared into the back. Tish turned back to her waitressing, taking the plate to a booth and serving it.

Tish sincerely hoped that everything worked out between Priestly and these two mysterious family members. After everyone had closed up last night, Tish and Priestly had gone back to their apartment, and Tish had just held Priestly, trying to bring comfort to his addled mind. Whatever these two strangers had in mind, they better not hurt her boyfriend in any way.

Ten minutes into Priestly's inventory, Tish glanced up to see the tall younger man from last night stepping into the store. One by one, the other workers noticed his presence and stopped what they were doing.

The guy hesitantly approached the counter, giving Tish an uneasy smile. "Hi…Is, uh…is he here?"

Tish glanced towards the back room to see that Priestly had not emerged yet. She looked back at the man. "Yeah. I'll, uh…I'll go get him."

Tish headed into the back room, finding Priestly counting the cans of peppers with his pen before writing the number down on the clipboard. "Priestly."

He turned around and gave her a smile. "Trucker can't stand the heat in the kitchen?"

"No, it's not that," Tish told him. She braced herself for his reaction. "They're back."

Priestly froze, his eyes moving over to the door to the front.

"Not both of them, just the one," Tish told him.

Priestly looked down at the floor.

"I can tell them to come back later," Tish offered.

"No, no," Priestly told her, looking back up. "I wanna talk to him." He set the clipboard down on the shelf and took a step towards the door.

As Priestly stopped next to Tish, she pushed herself up on her toes and gave him a kiss.

"Ready?" asked Tish.

Priestly took a deep breath. "I hope so." He headed towards the dining room as Tish followed.

Priestly froze in the doorway, staring at the tall, brunette man standing at the counter. The guy's eyes met his before taking in Priestly's purple hair spikes, ear and eyebrow piercings, eyeliner, tattooes and t-shirt that proclaimed he sold crack for the C.I.A.

"Hey," said the guy.

Priestly didn't say anything as he just stared at the guy, trying to spot similar features to his own. Sure, they both had the same strong jaw line and piercing gaze, but he couldn't see anything else that would lead anyone to believe they were related.

Priestly stepped up to the counter in front of the man. "Hey, uh…"

The guy smiled as he caught on. "Sam…My name is Sam."

Priestly nodded. "And where is…" He gestured to the door.

"John," Sam supplied. "He's back at the motel. We thought it best if it was just one of us."

"And you guys are…" asked Priestly.

Sam smiled a little. "I'm your brother."

"Brother, huh?" said Priestly, a smile tugging at his lips. "And John?"

"He's our dad," Sam told him.

Priestly nodded. "And, uh…what happened to me? Why was I in the hospital?"

Sam's face grew sad. "You were in a car accident."

"So, you know what happened to me," said Priestly shortly.

Sam frowned a little, confused. "Yeah."

"Then why the hell didn't anyone come for me?" asked Priestly hotly. "Why did I spend two months in the hospital without so much as a Get Well card?"

Sam's confused frown turned into a sympathetic one. "You were on a road trip. When you hadn't called after a few days, we started trying to track you down. Took us two months to find out where the accident happened, and by then…you were gone."

Priestly stared at him, trying to take that in. _They didn't abandon me…_

"I am so sorry," Sam told him, a tear escaping the corner of his eye. "We tried so hard to find you. I didn't want to, but…I started to think you were…" He took a few breaths as his eyes raked over Priestly's face, seeming to try to convince himself his brother was alive.

Finally believing him, Priestly started his questions. "Have I always been like this?"

Sam shook his head. "No, the amnesia is a new thing—"

Priestly chuckled a little, which caught Sam's attention and caused him to stare. "Well, I kinda figured the amnesia came from the accident, genius. I meant, did I always look like this?" He gestured to his look. "I mean, you kinda gave me a weird look yesterday and today when you saw me."

"Yeah, you, uh, you **never** looked like this," Sam told him, waving his hand at Priestly's clothes and hair.

Priestly chuckled. "Yeah, I figured."

"What made you decide to start looking like…" asked Sam, struggling with the word.

"A freak?" suggested Priestly.

"Uh, no, I-I mean—you're—" stuttered Sam.

"It's okay," Priestly told him, shrugging. "I don't know. I just wanted to **be** someone, you know. I was sick of no one knowing who I was, so I decided to be someone people would remember. And I, uh…I kinda like it. I don't know why, but it feels kind of nice standing out for some reason."

Sam gave a small smile for some reason as he nodded. "Well, it's, uh…it's…nice…I guess."

Priestly smiled. "So, uh…what did I do? Before cooking sandwiches, that is."

"Mechanic," Sam told him.

Priestly nodded. "Makes sense. What about you guys?"

"Dad's a mechanic, too," said Sam. "I was actually about to get into law school…before you…"

Priestly sighed. "I'm sorry, man. I didn't mean to make you—"

"No, no, it's not your fault," Sam told him. "You're more important than some law degree."

Priestly would never admit it, but that one phrase filled him with more joy than he had expected. His family **had** been looking for him. And it looked like the reason they hadn't found him was because they wouldn't have recognized him in his new look.

"Look, uh…" began Priestly, "can…can we meet somewhere later? The three of us?"

Sam nodded as he smiled a little. "Yeah…Yeah, definitely. Um…the pier?"

Priestly nodded. "Works for me. I get off work at five. Meet six-ish?"

"Sure," said Sam. "We'll see you then."

"See ya," Priestly smiled at him.

Sam started heading towards the door.

"Wait," Priestly called.

Sam stopped at the door, looking back at him.

Priestly hesitated a moment. "What's my name?"

Sam smiled. "Dean. Your name is Dean."

Priestly mused over the name. "Dean…Dean Priestly. I like it."

"Uh, well, actually, it's Winchester," Sam told him. "Our last name is Winchester."

"Dean Winchester…" Priestly considered. "Got a nice ring to it."

Sam smiled. "We'll see you later, Dean."

"Uh, yeah, about that," Priestly told him. "I, uh…I know my name is Dean and you guys know me as Dean, but…all I've known myself as is Priestly. If you guys could…"

Sam nodded. "Sure thing…Priestly." He turned and headed out of the shop.

Priestly watched him go before he sensed someone scooting up close to him.

"See," said Piper. "I knew it would all work out."

Priestly looked over to see his friends all watching him. He smiled at them. "I have a brother…and a dad."

Jen smiled. "We heard…Dean."

"Hey, hey, hey, still just Priestly," he told them. He then smirked. "But you gotta admit: way better than Boaz."

*********************************************SPN/T IH************************************************ ******

Priestly tossed his apron onto the counter. "Alright, gang, I'm headed to my family reunion."

"Good luck," Trucker told him.

"Hey, Renaissance Man," called Tish, heading over to him. "You want some company?"

Priestly pondered it for a moment. "I think this first time with them, I should make it just me. But I wanan introduce you to them soon."

Tish nodded. "I'd love to meet them. Do you, uh…want me to walk with you?"

Priestly smiled. "Sounds good."

Tish turned to the counter. "Trucker, can—"

"Have fun, you two," Trucker told them.

Tish smiled back at him and turned to Priestly. "After you."

Priestly led Tish out of the shop, and they headed off down the street.

"So…" began Tish, "if you ever get your memory back…you gonna keep going by Priestly or you switching to Dean?"

Priestly shrugged. "Not really sure yet. So, I'm just not gonna decide until the memories come back." He looked down at his feet. "If they come back."

"Hey," said Tish, grasping onto his hand, "they'll come back. Sooner or later, you'll remember."

Priestly smiled over at her. "I hope so."

"So, you're a mechanic," said Tish. "That explains the callused hands and the muscles."

"Oh…" mused Priestly, raising his arm and clenching his bicep, "you've noticed the muscles, have you?"

Tish smiled and leaned close, a hand on his chest. "How could I not, you big, manly man you."

Priestly ducked his head and took on a Southern accent. "Aw, shucks, ma'am."

Tish giggled and leaned back away from him, keeping her grip on his hand. "Where do you think you got Boaz Priestly from? You know, on the insurance card."

Priestly shrugged, frowning in thought. "Maybe I got an uncle or something by that name."

"Guess that's a question for your family," Tish told him.

"Family…" said Priestly, squeezing her hand. "I thought I'd had all the family I needed, and now…now, I have an all new family to figure out."

"Who will blend right in with ours," Tish said. "They'll meet everyone else in the sub shop, and we'll all get along perfectly."

Priestly chuckled. "Now, that sounds like wishful thinking."

"Well, you just think of the worst all the time, don't you?" said Tish.

Priestly shrugged. "It's a gift." He stopped in his tracks and swung Tish around by the hand, pulling her close and wrapping his other arm around her waist. "But that's what I have you for." He pulled her closer to him.

Tish leaned her head up towards him. "Well, first…you have to catch me." She took off down the sidewalk with a laugh.

"That's cheating!" Priestly called, smiling and taking off after her as they darted around the corner.

Tish laughed loudly as Priestly finally caught up to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind and lifting her from the ground.

"Put me down!" Tish cried. "Put me down, Boaz!"

"No way, Platisha!" Priestly shouted, spinning her around.

Tish laughed as Priestly spun her before setting her down. She spun around and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"And what's my prize for my catch?" asked Priestly.

"Mm, close your eyes," Tish told him. "It's a surprise."

"I love surprises," said Priestly, closing his eyes.

The next second, Tish kissed him. Priestly kissed her back, opening his eyes and smiling down at her.

"And what do you know?" said Tish. "We made it."

Priestly looked over at the pier they were standing in front of. "We did." He narrowed his eyes towards the end of the pier, spotting two familiar figures. "Well, look at that. They're early."

"You'll do great," said Tish. "Sam already likes you. And dads are obligated to love their kids."

Priestly smiled at her and gave her one last kiss. "Wait for me?"

"Always," Tish told him.

Priestly turned towards the pier, took a deep breath, and too uneasy steps towards his family and his answers.

**I know what you're thinking. That was kinda sappy for Dean. I was thinking the same thing near the end, but this is Priestly now. And I kinda got the feeling from the end of the movie that Priestly and Tish would have kind of a joking/loving relationship like that, so...**

**Besides, I'm the writer. What I say goes. Ha-Ha!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Four

**For those of you who are confused about the timeline, Dean/Priestly got hurt when he was 26, a few months after he and John started hunting by themselves, which (on the show) was a couple months before Dean got Sam from Stanford. So now, the story is taking place two years later in 2007.**

Priestly stepped down the pier towards his father and brother, hands in his pockets. He found his gaze drawn to John, searching his face in much the same way as he had Sam's. He found his own nose there and Sam's smile.

_Maybe we __**are**__ brothers, _Priestly thought. _We're just the kind that look more like our parents than each other._

Priestly stepped up to the two of them, giving them an awkward smile.

"Hey, Priestly," said John.

Priestly glanced at Sam real quick, knowing he had told their father to call him that. He looked back at John. "Hi…Dad."

John's smile twitched a little when he called him that. He began to take a step forward towards him, but then hesitated. He seemed to struggle with himself for a moment before taking a step towards Priestly and pulling him into a hug. Priestly let the hug continue, but not very comfortable with it. He knew John needed to hug his son after being missing for two years. Sam, however, had refrained from a hug so far.

John pulled away from Priestly, a hand on his shoulder. "It's good to see you, son." He lowered his hand, his gaze moving over Priestly's shoulder. "So, is that your girlfriend?"

Priestly turned to look at Tish, who was sitting on a bench in front of the pier and watching the surf on the beach. "Yeah." A smile spread on his face as he looked back at them. "She's my girl."

"You guys meet at the sub shop?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, she was working there when I started," Priestly told them.

"What's her name?" asked John.

"Tish," Priestly replied. "I'll, uh…introduce you guys later." He glanced at Sam. "Well, what about our mother? I mean, we do have a mother, right?"

Sam's face grew sad as John's did also. "We did. She, uh…she died when I was a baby."

Priestly's heart plummeted at the news. "How?"

"House fire," John told him.

Priestly frowned. "Arson?"

A look passed over both of their faces, something Priestly couldn't really identify.

"No," answered John. "It was bad wiring in the walls."

Priestly glanced over at Sam to see his eyes shift nervously down to the ground. _They're hiding something._

"So, it's just the three of us?" asked Priestly. "No other siblings?"

"Nope," Sam told him. "Just two brothers."

"So…how old am I?" asked Priestly.

"Twenty-eight," Sam told him. "You were born January 24, 1979."

"Huh, twenty-eight," mused Priestly. "What do you know? I was only off by a year." He looked at Sam again. "And you are…"

"Twenty-four," Sam replied. "May 2, 1983."

"Oh, so, **I'm** the older brother," said Priestly.

Sam frowned at him.

"Well, I thought you'd be older since you're taller," Priestly told him.

"Nope, just tall," Sam replied.

"And I'm a mechanic?" asked Priestly.

John nodded. "Just like me."

"That's how I know how to take care of cars," mused Priestly, leaning up against the pier railing.

"So, now you know about us," said Sam. "But…what happened to you…the past two years, that is."

Priestly shrugged a little. "Well…Woke up in the hospital with no memory and a lot of injuries…spent two months there, waiting for visitors—" he noticed his family's somewhat guilty expressions, "then I shacked up in a shelter after I was released. A few weeks later, I wandered into the grill and got a job."

"And this new look of yours…" began John, "you really like dressing like this?"

Priestly looked down at his pink "Crack for the C.I.A." shirt. "Yeah." He chuckled as he looked back up at his father. "Yeah, I kinda do."

"Sorry," said John, laughing a little. "It's just, you never looked like this. I wouldn't have thought you'd ever put on eyeliner, let alone wear pink."

Priestly shrugged. "People change, I guess."

John watched him wistfully. "Yeah…Yeah, I guess they do." After a moment, he pulled his wallet out, flipping through it until he finally passed it over to Priestly. "That's your mother Mary."

Priestly accepted the wallet, looking down at a blonde woman laughing in a yard on a sunny day. He ran a finger over the woman's face. "She's beautiful."

"You know, I, uh…I always thought you looked like her," John told him.

It was true; Mary did look a lot like him: the light hair, the green eyes, the same smile.

Priestly flipped to another photo. He recognized himself in a second. The picture looked to be less than ten years old. A younger Priestly and a younger Sam appeared to be in the middle of washing a black '60s Chevrolet Impala, but they had stopped to have a water war, apparently. Both of them were soaking wet, and Priestly had the hose pointed at Sam, while Sam had just flung the water from the soap bucket at Priestly.

Priestly chuckled. "Nice car." He looked up at them.

Sam's face brightened immensely at that. "You think so?"

Priestly nodded. "Oh, yeah. That's, what? A '68?"

"'67," John told him.

"Ooh, even better," whistled Priestly.

"It's yours, actually," said John.

Priestly's eyes widened. "No way." He looked down at the picture of the car. "That's mine?"

"Yep," smiled John. "It used to be mine, but I gave it to you just a month or so before you disappeared."

Priestly's gaze shot up to John, horrified. "Don't tell me I got into the accident in _this_ car!"

Sam shook his head quickly. "The Impala was in the shop for the day, so you rented. In fact, the Impala's back at our motel."

A smile appeared on Priestly's face. "Really?"

"Yeah, we can head over there later and you can see for yourself," said John. "Maybe it'll jog a memory loose."

"Yeah, maybe," Priestly speculated, handing the wallet back to John.

"So, you look like you've made pretty good friends at the grill," said Sam.

Priestly nodded. "I have. They're kinda like family. You guys can come by tomorrow. I'll introduce you."

John nodded. "Sure, sounds good."

"Wait, so, if you guys are staying in a motel, and I was in an accident while on a road trip, does that mean we're not local?" asked Priestly.

"No, we're not from Santa Cruz," replied John.

"Well, that explains why it took you two years to find me," said Priestly. "Where are we from?"

"Lawrence, Kansas," John told him.

"Kansas, huh?" said Priestly, mulling it over. "Not what I pictured, honestly."

"Well, we moved around a lot," Sam told him.

Priestly nodded, and they stood there in silence for a moment.

"Well…shall we?" suggested Sam, waving his hand back towards the beach.

Priestly nodded. "Yeah."

The three of them headed back down the pier.

Priestly approached the bench where Tish sat, holding his hand out for her. "Hey, babe. Got some people I want you to meet."

Tish stood, taking his hand and giving him a peck on the lips.

Priestly turned back to the other two. "Tish, this is my brother Sam and our father John. Guys, this is my girlfriend Tish."

"Nice to meet you," greeted Tish, shaking hands with each of them.

"You, too," said Sam.

"So, tell us how you two met," John asked Tish.

Tish and Priestly looked at each other and shared a smile.

************************************************** **SPN/TIH***************************************** ****************************

"And so, then, I had to tell her my name is Boaz," Priestly reminisced.

Sam and John laughed.

"The awesome thing was that she said her name was short for Platisha," Priestly went on.

"Ooh, harsh," laughed Sam.

The three of them were walking back to Sam and John's motel as they promised after dropping Tish off at their apartment.

"Oh, yeah, that's something I meant to ask you guys," Priestly spoke up suddenly. "If my name is Dean Winchester, then why did my insurance card say I was Boaz Priestly?"

Sam and John exchanged hesitant looks.

"What?" asked Priestly.

"Well…" began John, "that's the thing. You were kind of undercover."

Priestly actually froze in his tracks, causing the others to stop with him. "Undercover?"

"The three of us are F.B.I.," Sam told him. "You were after a lead in San Francisco when you had your accident."

"We're **all** in the F.B.I.?" Priestly asked skeptically.

"It's kind of a family business," John told him. "You see, your mother…she was killed."

"So, it **was** arson," stated Priestly.

John nodded. "We all joined the Bureau to stop anything like that from happening again and to catch her killer."

Priestly wasn't really sure what it was, but he could somehow tell that even though he was getting closer to the truth, they were still being vague about something.

A smirk formed on Priestly's face. "I'm F.B.I.?"

Sam nodded. "Yep."

Priestly began chuckling, which grew into semi-hysterical laughter.

"What is it?' asked John.

"Nothing," Priestly forced out past his laughter. "It's just that I set out under an assumed name and get amnesia, _becoming_ that person. How much more undercover can you get?"

The laughter became contagious as they set off again, and by the time they reached the motel, all three were catching their breath as the laughter died down.

Priestly spotted a black Impala in the parking lot near the building. "Is that it?"

"Yep, that's your Impala," said Sam.

_As if there's another '67 Impala in the lot,_ Priestly thought.

Priestly stared at this Impala that was his, without a hint of recognition.

"I imagine in different circumstances, she'd be a sight for sore eyes, wouldn't she?" said Priestly.

Sam gave him a sad smile. "Yeah, she would." He stepped over to the car, opening a back door and gesturing towards the back window.

Priestly frowned, but climbed inside the backseat of the Impala. As he slid onto the seat and caught the scent of leather, gasoline and—peculiarly—gun smoke, something sparked in Priestly's mind.

Classic rock blaring through a radio…

Hum of the engine…

"Strap in, Sammy. We got eight hours to go…"

Fresh breeze through the windows…

"Slow down, Dean. She's not a Ferrari…"

Sunlight glinting off the chrome as he worked on the engine…

"Are you **ever** gonna let me drive, Dean?..."

"Priestly?" asked Sam, sticking his head into the backseat.

Priestly looked up at him with a frown. "Huh?"

"You okay?" asked Sam.

Priestly glanced around the inside of the car. "I don't know…"

"What just happened?" asked Sam, sitting down on the seat next to him.

"I'm not sure," Priestly muttered. "Just a few flashes of stuff."

"Stuff?" asked John, leaning down at the car door.

"Uh, music, driving," began Priestly, looking up at Sam, "Sammy..."

Sam's eyes brightened immeasurably as he exchanged an excited look with John.

"I think the smell of the car triggered something," Priestly told them.

Sam looked back at Priestly with a thousand watt smile. "That's great, Dean! I-I mean, Priestly."

"So, why am I sitting in here?" asked Priestly.

Sam turned towards the back window. "This."

Priestly looked at the shelf of the back window, finding two sets of initials carved there: DW and SW.

"We did that when we were kids," Sam told him.

"And which one of us did that?" asked Priestly, pointing at an army man crammed in the ash tray of the door.

Sam chuckled. "That'd be me. And I also did this." He grabbed hold of the amulet hanging from Priestly's neck.

Priestly glanced down at the amulet. "This?"

"I gave it to you Christmas sixteen years ago," Sam told him. "You haven't taken it off since." He lowered his hand.

Priestly wrapped a hand around the amulet, looking down at it before looking over at the initials carved into the car. He thought back to Sam calling him Dean in his excitement, thinking he was getting his brother back.

"You know what?" Priestly said, looking over at Sam. "I'm still going by Priestly, but…you guys can call me Dean if you want."

Sam and John smiled warmly, looking pleased at this small victory.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Five

**The big Winchester family secret reveal! Hope it meets your expectations, 'cause I know it sure did mine.**

"Oh, my God," said Piper. "Priestly, she's beautiful!"

Priestly was passing around the few photos John and Sam had given him the night before to all his friends at the sub shop, sharing all the stuff he'd learned yesterday.

Priestly smiled. "Her name's Mary. She was a daycare teacher. They were married June 4, 1974."

"Ooh, ooh, when's your birthday?" asked Jen.

"January 24, 1979," Priestly told them.

"What about Sam?" asked Tish.

"May 2, '83," said Priestly.

"Oh, **you're** older," said Piper. "I thought that would've been the other way around."

"I know!" laughed Priestly. "That kid is freakishly tall. He must've eaten a lot of spinach as a kid."

"Well, that's a common misconception," said Sam from the front door with John. "It's actually the green beans that do that."

Priestly looked over at him and laughed. He stepped over around the counter towards them as they approached the other side of the counter. "This is my brother Sam and our dad John. Guys—" he waved a hand at Piper, "this is Piper. She's an incredible artist. She actually painted that wall."

Sam and John followed his pointing finger to the beach mural on the back wall.

"It's Trucker and Zo's wedding," Priestly explained.

"It's good," Sam told Piper.

"Thank you," said Piper.

"And you've already met Tish," said Priestly, waving at her. He pointed at Jen. "This is Jen. She's getting married in a couple weeks."

"Congratulations," John told her.

Priestly pointed at Trucker. "And this is our boss Trucker." He leaned toward Sam and John with a lowered voice. "Don't trust the hippie act. It's a hoax."

Everyone chuckled at that.

"I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am to you guys," John told Priestly's friends. "Even though Dean couldn't be with his family the past two years, the four of you became his family when we couldn't. That means a lot."

"Oh, it was nothing," said Trucker. "He can be a little off the wall sometimes, but we manage."

The bell on the front door jingled as it opened, and Priestly looked over to see Zo walk in.

"Hey, Zo!" greeted Priestly, heading back around to the stove. "Your usual?"

"Actually, I just came to drop this off," Zo said in her soft voice, handing Jen a small jar of what Priestly could only guess was some herbal remedy. "For a young woman entering into a new adventure in life."

"Thank you, Zo," said Jen, giving her a smile.

"It's a chamomile blend to be used as bath salts," Zo told her. She turned her head and spotted John and Sam standing at the counter. She frowned sadly and stepped towards Sam, gently taking his hand. "It's not a curse, Sam. You use it to help people. You are a gift from God." She patted his hand as he frowned suspiciously at her. She then stepped over to Trucker. "I'll see you later."

Zo gave him a kiss and then headed for the front door, looking back at Priestly. "I am glad you found your family, Dean." She stepped out of the shop and headed across the street to her crystal shop.

John looked sharply at Priestly. "What the hell was all that?"

Priestly shrugged. "Zo. She does that all the time. She's a wicca, or something." He did not miss John and Sam's exchanged apprehensive looks. "But, uh…what did she mean, 'It's not a curse'?"

Sam sighed. "Uh…long story."

The door opened, and about five or six people walked in, adding to the half-full dining room.

"You know what?" said John. "We'll let you get to your lunch rush. We'll see you later at the motel, Dean."

Priestly nodded. "Sure thing."

"It was nice meeting you all," said Sam.

"You, too," called Priestly.

John and Sam headed out of the shop as Jen and Piper began taking orders.

Tish walked over to Priestly as he waited at the stove for his first order. "Everything seems to be going okay with you guys."

Priestly nodded. "Yeah, it is. I, uh…I think I even remembered something last night."

"You did?" said Tish, smiling. "That's great! What did you remember?"

"Something about a road trip we must've taken a few years back," Priestly told her.

"Order up," said Jen, handing him a ticket.

Priestly turned back to the stove, reading over the order.

"Keep at it," Tish told him. "It'll all come back eventually."

Priestly smiled and nodded, setting about cooking his orders.

*********************************************SPN/T IH************************************************ **

Priestly sat on the edge of one of the motel beds at Sam and John's room, turning the diamond ring over in his fingers. He was trying to figure out when he should do it, or if he should do it at all. Should he wait until he gets his memories back? Or should he do it now in case the memories never come back?

"What's that?"

Priestly quickly hid the ring tight in his fist as his gaze flew up to Sam in the doorway of the bathroom. "What?"

Sam took a step out of the doorway, pointing at his fist with the start of a smile. "Is that an engagement ring?"

John looked up in interest from his little notebook at the table.

"What?" Priestly exclaimed. "No!" He laughed nervously. "No, it's not!" His laughter trailed off uneasily. He stared at Sam for a second. "Maybe." He looked down at his fist for a moment before sighing. "Yes." He opened his hand to show them the silver band with a small diamond on top.

"Wow, I…" stuttered Sam, "I had no idea you and Tish were that serious. How long have you been planning this?" He sat down next to Priestly, accepting the ring and taking a closer look.

"About a week," Priestly told them. "But then, you guys showed up."

Sam frowned up at him as he handed the ring back. "What do you mean?"

"I'd come to accept that I was never gonna remember who I was," explained Priestly. "Then, my family finds me, and I have a chance to get my old life back. I don't know if I should wait till my amnesia goes away before I propose or not."

"Do whatever feels like the right thing to do," John told him. "When the time feels right, ask her."

Sam rubbed a hand absently at his temple as he winced a little.

"When will I know it's the right time?" asked Priestly.

John smiled. "You'll know. Trust me."

"He's right," said Sam. "If you've finally found the right person, it doesn't matter what you can or can't remember. You're still you." He winced again as he rubbed his temple.

"You okay?" asked Priestly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sam told him. "Long day."

"You sure, Sam?" John asked very seriously, giving Sam a hard look.

Sam gave him another look right back. "Yeah, Dad, trust me. It's nothing."

"Well, uh, I want the two of you to be at the wedding," Priestly told them. "Maybe even in it."

"Definitely," John answered. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"I'm not sure if Tish will want it soon or want time to plan it," said Priestly. "Hell, I'm not even sure if she'll say yes yet."

Some weird sense of alarm sprang up inside of Priestly at that second. He had no clue what it was, but for some reason, his eyes flew instinctively over to Sam. Sam had both hands to his head now, grimacing in pain.

"I'm sure she'll say yes, Dean," said John. "If she really—"

"Sam?" asked Priestly.

John's attention drew over to Sam also.

"Dad," gasped Sam, his hands clenching in his hair now. "I was wrong. It's—" He yelled suddenly, doubling over on the bed.

Priestly's eyes were wide as saucers as John rushed over and put his hands on Sam's shoulders. _What the hell is happening?_

"Sammy!" John yelled, trying to brace him.

"My head!" yelled Sam, his forehead almost touching his knees.

"Breathe through it, Sam," John coaxed. "Breathe."

"What's wrong with him?" asked Priestly in a panic.

Not surprisingly, he didn't get an answer. After a moment or so, Sam's tense muscles slowly relaxed, and he looked up at his father.

"What was it, son?" asked John.

Priestly could see Sam look at him out of the corner of his eyes.

"What we came here for," Sam told him soberly.

"What the hell was that?" Priestly asked them.

"Must've been a migraine," John told him quickly. "But I'm gonna take him to get checked out just to be sure. You go ahead and head home. We'll see you at the shop tomorrow." He helped Sam up and walked with him to the door.

Priestly followed them. "You sure you don't want me to come with?"

"Thanks, but we're fine," John answered. "I'll call you afterwards and let you know what the doctors say."

Priestly nodded as he closed the motel room door behind them. "Okay. Hope you feel better, Sam."

Sam nodded as he opened the passenger door of the Impala. "Thanks." He climbed in as John got behind the wheel.

Priestly walked to his own car, unlocking the door as John pulled out of the space. He waved to them. "Good luck!"

John waved a hand before hurrying out of the lot. Once they had gotten out of sight, Priestly quickly got in his car and sped after them, keeping his lights off so they didn't see him. This was finally his chance to find out what they were hiding. They had acted very suspiciously after Sam's "migraine," and Priestly wanted to find out why they were ditching him. If they pulled into the hospital up the road, he would just circle around and head back to his apartment.

About ten miles up the road, Priestly watched as they sped right past the hospital without even slowing down.

Priestly shook his head. "I knew it."

They drove another fifteen minutes or so before coming to a stop on the edge of some woods. Priestly stopped his car a ways back and turned off the engine, watching as father and son hurried to the Impala's trunk.

"What the hell are they doing?" Priestly mumbled.

His jaw dropped as John strapped a machete to his side, Sam doing the same. John also grabbed what looked like syringes, passing a couple to Sam, before pulling out an antique-looking revolver. John closed the trunk, and the two charged into the woods, weapons at the ready.

"Oh, my God," muttered Priestly. "I was born into the Manson family." He quickly got out of his car and chased after them.

Priestly found he was able to follow them fairly easily, although not quite sure how. He'd never been hunting, so he wasn't sure how good he was at tracking, but maybe he **had** been a hunter because it was all coming second nature to him. A little ways into the trees and noise started up, getting quickly closer to him. Priestly tensed himself for whatever was coming before a terrified, crying woman burst out from behind the trees and ran past him.

Priestly watched her go for a moment before heading back through the trees. He heard a shout nearby, and he stepped up next to a tree to see an unfamiliar man in a clearing. He was standing at the ready, looking all around him.

"Hey, you!"

Priestly watched John edge out from behind some trees, smirking at the man. The guy turned towards him.

"Why don't you try picking on someone your own size," said John.

Just as the guy let out a strange snarl, Sam charged up behind him and swung the machete, beheading the guy.

Priestly's jaw dropped as his eyes flew open. _Oh, my God! My family is a bunch of psycho killers!_

Another man quickly attacked, grabbing onto Sam and pulling him close.

"Sam!" John yelled, pulling out the antique revolver, which turned out to be an old Colt.

Priestly watched in stunned shock as the guy holding Sam opened his mouth and sharp fangs suddenly covered his teeth. _What the hell? Vampire? No way…_

John raised the Colt to shoot the guy in the head. Someone suddenly wrapped an arm around Priestly's throat, hauling his feet off the ground a little and stepping into the clearing.

"Ah-ah-ah!" the guy holding him called.

John and Sam looked over to see Priestly in the stranglehold. John moved the gun over to the guy before moving it back over to Sam's assailant.

"Can't shoot us both," the guy holding Priestly said.

Priestly pulled at the arm around his throat, but the guy was so strong that he couldn't even budge him. And with his feet barely touching the ground, he couldn't get any leverage.

"What'll it be, pops?" said Priestly's attacker. "One dead boy or drop the gun?"

John glanced between his sons before slowly lowering the gun. Priestly took that moment to snap his head back, head-butting the guy holding him. Stunned, the guy loosened his hold enough that Priestly could drive an elbow back into his face. As he staggered back, Priestly backhanded him and then punched him. A gunshot sounded, and the guy turned tail and ran.

Priestly turned to see John and Sam standing over Sam's attacker, who had a bullet in his head. The wound sparked with blue light for a moment before fading away. Priestly stared down in horror at the gaping bullet hole and then down at the fangs still descended in his mouth.

"That was close," said John.

"But not close enough," said Sam with a smile of victory. "We stopped my vision and saved that girl."

"Sounds like a job well done to me," said John. "What about you, Dean?"

Priestly stared at the dead thing at their feet before slowly looking up at them with horrified eyes.

"Oh, my God, Priestly…" said Sam.

That was all they got out before Priestly turned a one-eighty and high-tailed it out of the woods.

"Priestly!"

Priestly pumped his legs for all they were worth as he heard them running after him. He cleared the woods and darted for his car, grateful he had left it unlocked. He jumped in and peeled away from them and back towards town. Fifteen minutes later, Priestly slammed to a stop at the curb outside the sub shop. He tore out of the car and burst through the front door.

"Vampires!" Priestly exclaimed, slamming to a stop at the counter.

Piper, Jen, Tish and Trucker had frozen in their spots, staring at their alarmed friend.

"What?" asked Piper.

"It's the migraine and the Mansons and arsenal—vampires!" Priestly blurted, so out of breath and frazzled that he couldn't think straight."

"Okay, honey, slow down," said Tish, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Breathe and tell us what happened."

Priestly took a couple breaths. "My family just iced two vampires."

Tish blinked at him. "What?"

"Vampires," Priestly told her. "Real gnaw-on-your-neck, fangs-for-teeth vampires."

"Priestly…" said Jen slowly, "don't you think you might have mistaken something you saw?"

"Okay, even if they weren't vampires, they **did** kill two people!" Priestly told them.

The door burst open behind Priestly.

"Dean, whatever you do, don't tell them about the vamp—" said Sam as he ran into the shop. He and John froze when they saw everyone in the shop. "…pires…"

Priestly looked at everyone else. "Ha! See? Vampires!" He looked back at John and Sam with a frown. "Vampires?"

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" asked Trucker.

"That's what I'd like to know," said Priestly, crossing his arms and glaring at them.

Sam and John exchanged defeated looks.

John sighed. "I guess we have something to tell you, then."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Six

**No, this is not a new chapter, but I was revisiting this one and added a couple things. Enjoy the additions!**

Tish waited for an explanation from these Winchesters. What followed was the weirdest conversation she'd ever had, all beginning with Priestly's exclamation of "Vampires!"

"We're, uh…we're not F.B.I.," said Sam.

"F.B.I.?" asked Tish, looking at Priestly and wondering why he never mentioned that little fact before.

"That's what they'd told me," Priestly told them. "That was the reason I had the insurance card for Boaz Priestly. They said I was undercover. But, apparently, they were lying."

"Yeah, we were," said John. "You wouldn't have believed us." He took a deep breath. "It's true; your mother's death was caused by arson. But the thing that started it was a demon."

"A demon?" asked Priestly skeptically.

Tish didn't blame him. Talk of a demon killing your wife would definitely be enough to put anybody in the loony bin.

"A Yellow-Eyed Demon," said John. "He killed Mary in Sam's nursery the night of his six-month birthday. So, I became a hunter. And I trained you boys to be hunters, too."

"Hunters?" asked Priestly.

"We hunt supernatural beings that hurt or kill people," Sam explained.

"Like what?" asked Priestly.

"Spirits, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, demons, ghouls, zombies, djinns, shtrigas, rugarus—" Sam listed off.

"Whoa, whoa, what now?" asked Priestly. "What were those last ones?"

"Djinn are like genies," said Sam. "Only instead of granting you a wish, their venom traps you in a catatonic state, living out your wish while they feed on you."

"Shtrigas are witches," John explained. "They disguise themselves as humans and feed off of your life force, mostly going after children and working its way through families."

"Rugarus are like cannibals," said Sam. "It's a gene passed on in humans that makes them crave human flesh. It gives them superhuman strength and causes their skin to decay."

_This is insane…_ Tish thought, unable to believe the things she was hearing.

These two were talking about beings she'd never even dreamt of in her worst nightmares as though they were discussing the weather.

_What kind of life was Priestly forced to grow up into?_ Tish wondered, feeling pity for her boyfriend.

"Uh-huh…" mused Priestly. He looked at Sam. "And, uh, that migraine you had?"

"About a year and a half ago, I began having dreams that started coming true," Sam explained. "After a few months, I started having these visions while I was awake, giving me killer headaches. Last night, I had a vision about that vampire attacks, so we went to take care of it before it was too late."

"You're a psychic?" asked Priestly.

Sam shrugged. "Sort of. There are, apparently, other kids like me. The Yellow-Eyed Demon killed their mothers the night of their six-month birthday, and they now have a psychic ability. One kid could move things with his mind, another used mind control; it's different for everyone."

Priestly suddenly began laughing. "Alright, guys, very funny." He glanced around at the other shop employees. "Who put them up to this?"

Trucker gave Priestly a serious look. "I don't think it's a setup, Priestly."

"No, seriously, what's next?" chuckled Priestly. "Am I gonna find Bigfoot in my apartment when I get home?"

"It's no joke, Dean," said Sam. "You saw us decapitate those vampires yourself. How could we set that up?"

The laughter slowly faded from Priestly's eyes.

"Two years ago, I sent you on a werewolf hunt," said John. "That's how you landed in the hospital. It must've banged you up pretty bad."

"Alright, this isn't funny anymore," said Priestly, all traces of humor gone.

"All the injuries you had, there didn't happen to be any claw marks or scratches?" asked John.

The color drained from Priestly's face as he stared at John, his hand moving absently towards his chest where Tish knew he had five lined scars across his chest that did indeed look like claw marks.

"We're not making this up, Dean," said Sam. "I'm sorry, but it's the truth."

Priestly slowly shook his head. "No…" The shaking of his head became more forceful. "No, it's impossible." He turned and marched towards the door.

Tish saw something like resolve flicker on Sam's face before he charged up behind Priestly, wrapping an arm around his throat. Priestly instantly grabbed hold of Sam's arm, ramming his elbow into Sam's gut. He pulled Sam's arm off of him and spun to face him, nailing him in the head with a backhand and following it up with two fierce punches. The look on his face was one Tish had only ever seen the night she had ditched Tad for good: the face of a predator.

As Sam toppled to the floor, Priestly stared down at him, frozen in shock. He looked down at his clenched fists and back over at Sam, eyes widening.

"No…" Priestly muttered, staring down at Sam in fear. "It can't be…" He kept glancing between Sam and his raised fists.

But Tish found herself drawn to Priestly's eyes. They seemed to be staring not at Sam, but at a phantom nightmare.

_He remembered something…_ Tish realized.

"It's a lie…" Priestly muttered, still staring into space. "It's a lie!" He turned and bolted out the door.

"Dean!" John called, making for the door.

Tish stepped forward, putting her hand on his chest. "Let me go. I think he'll talk to me."

John glanced back up at the doorway and then down at Tish, nodding before turning to see to Sam.

Tish turned and walked out the door, heading towards the one place she knew Priestly would take refuge.

************************************************SP N/TIH********************************************* **************************

Tish sighed as she watched her boyfriend sitting at the shore on a log. He just looked so lost staring out at the ocean. She slowly walked towards him, sitting down on the log next to him. She didn't say anything; she only reached a hand over and wrapped it around his.

"You know, I guess I always knew," said Priestly after a few minutes. "Deep down, I knew there was something dark inside me."

"You are not dark," Tish told him. "You suffered a terrible tragedy at a young age and did something great with it. From the sounds of it, you've saved a lot of people from the things out there in the dark."

Priestly was silent for a while before speaking up again. "I watched myself shoot a werewolf in the heart—something that had once been a person—without a hint of hesitation or remorse. I stabbed something over and over and over until it was dead. How can a person like that not be bad?"

_So, that's what he had remembered, _Tish thought.

When his instincts had taken over as Sam grabbed him, Priestly had flashed back to some hunt he had been on at some point in the last twenty years.

_So, it was all true,_ she thought.

Half of her had been hoping it wasn't, but if Priestly's memories were backing their story up, then what the Winchesters said had to be the truth.

Tish reached her hand up, turning Priestly's face towards her. "You grew up in this life. It was all you knew. Those things you killed hurt and killed people. You had no choice. You probably stopped them from hurting other people in the future." She stroked the side of his face. "You are not a bad person." She smiled. "You're my hero."

A small smile finally formed on Priestly's face as Tish leaned forward and kissed him.

**************************************SPN/TIH***** ************************************************** ***********************

"So, vampires can go out in the sun?" asked Piper.

"Yes," said John, sitting at one of the shop tables with Sam.

"And you can't kill them with stakes?" asked Jen.

"No, just decapitation," said Sam.

"Wow," said Jen. "There goes, like, a thousand years of vampire lore out the window."

"What about werewolves?" asked Piper. "Do they transform into actual wolves, or are they more like the Wolfman? You know, human-wolf hybrid."

"Actually, werewolves don't grow wolf hair," said Priestly from the front door with Tish. "That's a myth."

John frowned. "How did you know that?"

"I remember," Priestly told them.

John and Sam's eyes widened in hope.

"No, not like that," Priestly clarified. "I just got a flash of a werewolf hunt earlier."

John stood, stepping towards him. "You okay?"

Priestly hesitated a moment, sighing. "No. But I'll get over it." He stepped further into the shop, frowning over at John and Sam. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We wanted to wait until you started remembering more stuff," said Sam. "We didn't want to scare you off."

Priestly chuckled with a smirk. "Too late for that."

"I'm sorry we sprung it on you like that, but it's not how it sounds at first glance," said Sam.

"It's okay, Sam," Priestly waved him off. "Tish kinda helped me see what you guys really do…what **we** really do. Saving people…hunting things…"

John smiled and nodded. "The family business."

Priestly nodded as he and Tish stepped towards the tables where they all sat.

John sat back down next to Sam. "Oh, by the way…"

Priestly stopped and looked at him.

"Bigfoot…big hoax," John told him.

Priestly chuckled as he and Tish sat at a table. "So, give me the low-down."

******************************************SPN/TIH* ************************************************** ***********

"_AAAAHHHH!"_

_He snapped awake, eyes darting around the room in fear at Mommy's scream._

"_Mary!"_

_Footsteps pounded down the hall outside the door, and a door slammed open in the next room. He slowly sat up, pulling his blankets up to his chin to protect himself. Daddy had sounded very scared when he had called Mommy's name. He waited for a few moments, wanting to be brave and help his daddy, but he couldn't bring himself to get out of his bed._

"_No! Mary!"_

_Hearing his daddy's shout and a strange whoosh sound, he climbed out of his bed, peeking around the doorframe into the hall to see bright orange light coming from Sammy's nursery. Daddy ran out into the hall towards him._

_He rushed towards his daddy. "Daddy!"_

_Daddy handed Sammy over to him. "Take your brother outside as fast as you can! Don't look back! Now, Dean, go!"_

_He turned and ran down the stairs, heading for the front door as he cradled Sammy close. He darted out onto the lawn, looking up at the glowing window upstairs._

Mommy…_ he thought in fear._

"Mom!" Priestly shouted as he jolted up in his bed.

"Priestly!" exclaimed Tish, sitting up quickly beside him. She put a hand on his arms, trying to calm him down. "You were sleeping. It's okay. It was just a dream."

Priestly's eyes darted around the dark bedroom before settling on Tish, replaying the frightening images over again in his mind. "No, Tish…I don't think it was."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Seven

**Just had my 24****th**** birthday May 13! Woo-hoo! My boss bought me Supernatural season seven! And now I get the Season Eight finale for my birthday!**

"He really said he was buying the tampons for his awesome girlfriend?" asked Sam, chuckling.

Piper nodded. "Uh-huh. And a couple weeks later, Jen and I did a supply run and found two of the guys who had been there standing at the checkout line with tampons, feminine wipes and lube."

Sam and John laughed loudly.

"We told everyone when we came back, and Priestly got a kick out of it," said Jen.

John nodded, chuckling. "Yeah, that sounds like a tall tale worthy of Dean."

"He lies a lot, huh?" asked Trucker.

John shrugged. "Nature of the job. Kind of a necessity. But he's honest when it counts."

The bell above the door jingled, and they looked to see Priestly and Tish walk in.

"Hey, you sleep good?" greeted Trucker.

"For the most part," Tish told them, giving Priestly's shoulder a squeeze and heading back behind the counter.

Priestly was staring at Sam and John with a slightly spooked look in his eyes.

"You okay, Dean?" asked Sam.

Priestly stepped over to them, frowning at Sam uncertainly. "The night Mom died in your nursery…" he pointed at him, "I carried you out the front door?"

Sam's gaze shot over to John, who was staring up at Priestly with a slight smile.

"You did," John nodded.

Sam's frown dropped as he stared at John. "He did?"

John looked at him. "Yeah. You never knew that?"

Sam shook his head. "No." He looked over at Priestly with a new look in his eyes, one of admiration and gratitude.

John looked up at Priestly. "How'd you know that?"

"I dreamed about it last night," Priestly told them. "About Mom dying…the fire…the heat…It was…" He struggled for the word.

"Terrible," supplied John.

Priestly's eyes locked onto his, sharing a sorrowful look. "Yeah…" He stepped over to the table where they sat, easing down into a chair himself. "So, listen, I've, uh…I've been thinking."

"Yeah?" asked John.

"I, uh…" began Priestly. "I want you guys to train me."

"Train you?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, train me to be a hunter," said Priestly. "I don't know if I'll ever get my memories back, but I need to be able to take care of myself if I'm gonna hunt."

Sam frowned, glancing over at Tish cleaning the tables for a second before looking back at Priestly. "You want to leave with us to go hunting?"

Priestly shook his head quickly. "No."

The two of them looked a little hurt.

"Well, I mean, not yet, at least," Priestly told them. "My life is here right now. And to be honest, I don't know if that will change if I get my memory back. But if anything comes for me or my friends…I can't know these things exist and **not** know how to defend myself."

Sam and John exchanged looks.

"So, what do ya say?" asked Priestly.

John looked back at Priestly and shrugged. "Sounds like a plan."

Priestly smiled. "Great."

"First things first, though," said John. "You're taking a test."

Priestly frowned. "Test?"

"To see what you remember from yesterday," said John.

Priestly shrugged. "Okay."

"What works against ghosts?" asked John.

"Salt and iron," answered Priestly.

"How do you get rid of 'em?" asked John.

"Salt and burn the bones," said Priestly.

"Werewolves," said Sam.

"Silver bullet to the heart," said Priestly. "Same with shapeshifters and, uh…skinwalkers."

"Wendigo," said John.

"Burn 'em alive," said Priestly. "Just like a rugaru."

"Vampire," said Sam.

"Stake to the heart," said Priestly.

Sam faltered a little. "Uh, well—"

Priestly chuckled. "Kidding. Decapitation."

"Zombie," said Sam.

"Stake 'em in their coffins," said Priestly.

"Djinn," said John.

"Silver knife dipped in lamb's blood," said Priestly.

"Demon," said John.

"Salt, iron, holy water, devil's trap, exorcism," Priestly listed off. "Can only be killed with that Colt thing you told me about."

John glanced around the empty shop before reaching into his jacket and pulling out an ancient, wicked-looking revolver.

Priestly stared at it. "Is that it? You have it?"

John nodded. "A hunter friend was killed by vampires about a year back. He left a note for me saying he'd had it. Sam and I went looking for it to kill the demon." He reached across the table, holding the Colt out to him.

Priestly slowly grabbed hold of the handle, holding it up in front of him. A pentagram was carved into the bottom of the handle. As Priestly ran his hand along the barrel, he noticed a phrase carved there.

"I will fear no evil…" muttered Priestly absently.

"You can read that?" asked Sam.

Priestly looked up at him. "What?"

"You can read Latin?" asked Sam.

"I can?" asked Priestly, looking down at the gun and realizing the words carved in the barrel were not in English but in Latin: non timebo mala. He glimpsed at the phrase again, realizing each word made perfect sense to him and not understanding how he'd read that so easily. "I know Latin?"

"Kind of a requirement for hunters," said John. "I taught you boys in junior high."

"How can I remember how to read Latin but not anything from my life?" wondered Priestly.

"The same way you remember how to speak English or brush your teeth or drive," Sam explained. "Things that you learn are different than things you experience. It's like muscle memory."

Priestly stared at him for a moment. "Psych class?"

Sam smiled. "Anatomy, actually."

"You need Anatomy to go to law school?" asked Priestly.

"You kind of have to take that no matter what you go into," said Sam. "You know, general education."

"Oh," said Priestly, admiring the gun one last time before handing it back to John.

The door to the shop opened, and John quickly stuffed the Colt back into his jacket.

"Alright, just one more question," said John. "What's the number one rule of hunting?"

Priestly smirked. "Never give out your real name."

John smiled. "That's my boy. So, when do you wanna start?"

"I passed?" asked Priestly.

John nodded. "You passed."

"How about after work tomorrow?" asked Priestly. He nodded at his friends helping the customer at the counter. "The five of us are getting together tonight to plan the last few things for Jen's wedding."

"To which you two are both invited," Jen spoke up from the computer.

"Thank you," said Sam. "We'd love to come."

"Cool," said Jen. "It's next Saturday at one o'clock. Priestly'll tell you where."

"Okay," said Priestly, standing and moving to the grill. "It's settled, then. See ya guys tomorrow."

"Yeah," said John, standing with Sam. "See ya."

The two of them headed out the front door as the Beach City gang set about opening for the day.

*************************************************S PN/TIH******************************************** **********************

"Did you book the caterer?" asked Jen as they sat in the pizza parlor that night.

Her sister Angie nodded. "Yep. Alessandro will be at the banquet hall at noon."

"Good," said Jen. "That'll give him about two and a half hours. Thanks, Ang."

"Hey, that's the maid of honor's job," shrugged Angie. She looked over at Trucker. "So, you'll be giving my sis away?"

"That's right," said Trucker.

"I'm glad Jen found people to count as family after our parents passed," said Angie.

"Well, she's not the only one," said Trucker, glancing over at Priestly.

Angie looked over at Priestly sadly. "Oh, your parents died?"

"No, no, they—well, my mom died when I was a kid, but…" began Priestly, going with John and Sam's cover story, "I got into a car accident two years ago. I hit my head pretty hard and lost my memory. These guys kinda became my family."

"If you have amnesia, how do you know about your mom?" asked Angie.

"My dad and brother found me last week," Priestly told her. "Little things are coming back, and they filled in the rest."

"Well, that's something," Angie told him. "I hope your memory comes back."

"Thanks," said Priestly.

"So, anyway, your bachelorette party," said Angie, looking at her sister.

Jen blushed as she looked down at the table. "Ang…"

"Oh, come on," said Piper. "You can't get married without a bachelorette party. I promise you won't regret it."

Jen hesitated before nodding. "Fine. Bachelorette party."

"Yay!" Tish clapped her hands as Piper, Jen and Angie laughed.

"You girls have fun," Priestly told them. "Trucker and I will be hosting Jeff's bachelor party." He waggled his eyebrows with a sly smirk.

"No strippers, Priestly," Jen told him.

Priestly inconspicuously avoided Jen's eyes, grabbing another slice of pizza.

"No strippers," Jen emphasized.

"What's the fun of a bachelor party without strippers?" Priestly told her.

"Priestly," Jen warned.

"Man…" Priestly whined. "I never get to do anything fun."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Eight

Priestly approached the ramshackle warehouse after work, frowning down at the address Sam had texted him. "This can't be right."

He glanced around the building, unsure if they had taken the Impala there or not. Not seeing the car, Priestly took a deep breath and headed towards the building. He found the thick door out front standing ajar, and it creaked as he pushed it open.

"Sam?" Priestly called, not stepping inside. "Dad?"

Getting no response, Priestly glanced around before making up his mind.

"This is a stupid idea…" Priestly muttered, stepping into the building.

As Priestly cleared the door, someone tackled him, sending him hurtling to the floor. Before he could get his feet under him again, his arms were pinned to the floor and a knife was pressed into the skin of his neck.

"Rule number one."

Priestly looked up at the person on top of him, knees on his arms and knife held at his throat.

"Never let your guard down," said John.

Priestly's lungs finally remembered how to breathe again, and his heart pounded against his ribcage. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"That was the point," John said, easing back onto his feet and holding his hand out to Priestly.

Priestly took his hand, and John pulled him up, stowing the knife in his jacket.

"I take it the training has started," said Priestly.

"Welcome to Hunting 101," said Sam, stepping away from a dark corner. "First lesson…" he handed Priestly a pistol, "target practice."

Priestly hefted the gun in his hands, smiling. "Alright! What am I shooting?"

John turned and gestured at a line of aluminum cans lined up along the far wall maybe a hundred yards away. Priestly stepped forward a little, raising the pistol with both hands and closing one eye so he could aim. He got a can in his sights and pulled the trigger. The bullet echoed through the warehouse as it hit the concrete wall three feet above the can. Priestly lowered the gun a little as he stared at the bullet hole. There was silence behind him for a moment.

"Well…not bad," said John. "You're a little rusty, but I'm sure we can job your memory. Let me show you some pointers."

Priestly moved one leg back to brace himself as he raised the pistol, lining up his shot and keeping his eyes open this time. He gripped the pistol tight and pulled the trigger seven times. The cans went flying one by one as each bullet hit its target. There was silence once again as Priestly stared down at the gun in his hands in amazement.

"See," said John in pride, "you're a natural."

"Nice shot, Dean," said Sam.

Priestly turned to them. "It kinda just all came back to me right there. Guess I'm a good shot."

"One of the best," said John. "Well, since you got the gun down, let's start on combat training."

********************************************SPN/TI H******************************************

Two hours later, Priestly was slipping his socks and shoes back on as Sam sat on the floor next to him doing the same. Priestly began chuckling.

Sam looked at him. "What?"

"I feel like I'm getting out of a karate class or something," said Priestly.

Sam laughed a little. "I doubt karate instructors teach you how to snap someone's neck."

Priestly chuckled. "True." He leaned over to grab his other shoe.

"What's that?" Sam asked.

Priestly looked back over at him. "What?"

Sam gestured at his neck. "That a necklace?"

Priestly grabbed the cord around his neck, pulling the necklace out from under his shirt. "What, this?"

Sam stared with wide eyes and slack jaw at the pendant hanging from the cord.

"You okay?" asked Priestly.

Sam looked up at him. "You still have it…"

Priestly looked down at the bronze pendant. "I was wearing it when I woke up in the hospital." He shrugged. "Don't really know why, but I never had the heart to throw it away." He glanced back up to find Sam staring at him with a nostalgic smile on his face. "What?"

"I gave you that amulet," Sam told him. "Christmas, '91. It was supposed to be for Dad, but he was off on one of his hunts. That was when you finally told me the family business. I gave you the amulet for telling me the truth. You haven't taken it off since."

Priestly smiled a little, his hand closing around the amulet. "No, I haven't."

Sam smiled at Priestly's indication that he hadn't taken it off since the hospital. "I was so afraid you'd thrown it away, not knowing what it was."

"By the sounds of it, there no force on this earth that could make me get rid of this," said Priestly.

Sam smiled again, looking back down at his shoes as he tied them. "So, where you off to?"

"Not me," said Priestly. "We." He finished tying his shoe and looked up at Sam. "You, my brother, are hanging out with me and the gang tonight."

"And what would we be doing?" asked Sam as he grabbed his jacket and stood.

Priestly stood with him. "Going to the movies. There's this theatre down by the pier that shows older movies instead of new releases. They've got _The Descent_ playing this month."

Sam frowned. "What's that about?"

"These people go down in a cave where they're attacked by these freaky cave people," Priestly explained, grabbing his own jacket.

"Oh, I remember those previews," said Sam. "Sounds good, but, uh…" he glanced uneasily at him, "you didn't ask Dad to come, did you?"

"Yeah, he said no," said Priestly, frowning. "He busy, or something?"

"Uh, sort of," grimaced Sam. "Dad…doesn't really like horror movies."

Priestly frowned deeper. "What? But his whole life is a horror movie. Shouldn't he be used to it?"

"Well, that's just the thing," said Sam. "Dad says that he deals with the horror so much on the job that he tries to get away from it as much as he can."

"Oh," said Priestly. "Well, we'll have to go see a chick-flick with him later."

"Actually, I cater more towards action flicks," said John from the doorway.

"Good to know," said Priestly. "So, what are you planning to do while we're at the movie?"

"Maybe check the papers for a simple hunt for us to go on this week," said John.

"Really?" said Priestly. "You think I'm ready for a real hunt?"

"In about four or five days' time, yeah," said John. "It'll be a simple salt 'n burn. One hunter can take care of it, and there'll be three of us. Don't worry."

"Okay," said Priestly. "Well, we'll…see you later."

"Have fun, boys," said John as the brothers headed towards the door.

"Sure thing, Sensei," called Priestly as he headed out the door.

Sam and Priestly laughed together as they left, John shaking his head fondly.

**********************************************SPN/ TIH**************************************

Three days later, the Winchester training sessions were going really well. Priestly had mastered use and maintenance of the guns, both pistols and shotguns. He had also refined his combat skills, tracking skills and hunting techniques. It was almost like everything was coming back to him. Unfortunately, no other memories had returned. It seemed only extreme shock was jogging anything loose.

"Hop in," said John as he, Sam and Priestly strode from the warehouse towards the Impala they'd drive this time. "We'll give you a lift to the grill."

"Thanks," said Priestly, opening the back door and getting in.

John got behind the wheel as Sam sat in the passenger seat. He started up the car and headed into the street.

John glanced in the rearview mirror at Priestly. "So…you propose to Tish yet?"

Priestly shook his head. "Haven't found a good time yet."

John smiled. "I wish your mother could be here to see this. I know she'd be proud of you."

"Thanks," said Priestly. He glanced down and saw a box on the floor. "What's this?" He picked the box up to see it was full of cassette tapes. "Aw, man, what an awesome collection!"

"They're yours," Sam told him.

"Oh, sweet!" exclaimed Priestly, picking up a few and holding them up to read the labels in the streetlights. "Motorhead…AC/DC…Metallica…Foreigner…Def Leppard. You can't find these anymore! And it just isn't right to douche up a classic like this with an iPod jack."

"I am in violent agreement with you there," said John.

"You two are so old-fashioned," grumbled Sam.

"Hey, the classics are the best," said Priestly. "They don't make anything like they used to anymore."

"You got that right," said John. "Everyone just needs to appreciate the finer things in life."

"Right on," said Priestly.

"Whatever, you hippies," muttered Sam.

"Wrong decade, dude," said Priestly. "You're thinking the '60s. The '70s and '80s is where good classic rock came from."

Sam turned his head towards the backseat with a smile. "You are never gonna change, are you?"

"Wouldn't count on it," said Priestly.

"We're here," said John, pulling over on the side of the street in front of the grill.

"Thanks, guys," said Priestly, hopping out of the car and closing the door. He leaned down to talk to them through the passenger window. "I'll see you for training tomorrow."

"You got it," said John. "By the way, I found us a haunting. We'll be leaving in two days. If you could ask your boss…for…"

Priestly frowned at the look on his face and found the same one on Sam. They were both staring past him. Priestly turned and looked into the sub shop, spotting Trucker unconscious on the floor in front of the counter.

"No…" Priestly muttered as his eyes flew to Piper and Jen cowering in fear at the tables and a man with a knife to Tish's throat behind the counter, holding her close to him. "Tish…"

As he took a step towards the shop, he heard Sam and John jump out of the Impala behind him.

"Whoa, Dean, you can't just rush in there," said John. "We need to—"

"You two create a distraction," said Priestly in a hard voice, never taking his eyes off his terrified girlfriend. "I'm going around the back. He makes a move, though, and you make yours."

As he rushed towards the side of the building to head around back, he heard John say to Sam, "He catches on quick."

************************************************** ****SPN/TIH*************************************** *********

Jen held onto Piper at the table as the robber held onto Tish.

"Now, you two are gonna stay right where you are or sweetie here gets it!" said the guy.

"Don't hurt her, please!" begged Piper.

"That depends on you!" yelled the robber. "You stay put! Me and the little lady are gonna go get better acquainted." He kissed Tish on the cheek, running his free hand along her torso.

Tish grimaced as tears fell down her face. The bell jingled as the door opened, and Jen and Piper glanced over to see John and Sam walk in.

"And then we got the post-game party to go to, and—" said Sam.

He and John froze suddenly when they spotted the situation.

The robber pulled Tish a little more towards the back, digging the knife further into her neck as she screamed. "Don't move! I'll slit her throat!"

"Okay, okay!" said Sam, hands out in front of him and eyes wide. "We're not moving. Don't hurt the girl."

"You two, on your knees!" yelled the guy. "Now!"

"Okay," said John as he and Sam knelt on the floor. "We'll do whatever you say. Just don't hurt her."

Jen frowned in confusion. _Why aren't they doing anything? They kill monsters for a living! They can handle one guy!_

Jen glanced over at Tish and the robber to see Priestly sneaking up behind the guy through the back room. She nudged Piper, and she looked over at him, too. Priestly's eyes moved to them, and he held up a hand, giving them a stern look that told them to be quiet.

"Look, why don't you let the girl go?" said John. "We'll give you all the money we have."

Jen suddenly understood the Winchesters' behavior; they were playing decoy so Priestly could get to Tish. Priestly silently stepped up to the robber, holding his arms out at the ready for his moment.

"I didn't come for money," said the robber, licking the side of Tish's face.

Jen watched Priestly's face twist in rage as he suddenly made his move. Priestly grabbed the arm holding the knife, pulling it away from Tish's throat as he pulled the other arm away with his other hand. Tish broke away from the guy, darting around his arms and running around the counter. She barreled into Jen and Piper's arms, staring in fear at the struggle.

As soon as Priestly was sure Tish was free of the guy's reach, he brought the guy's knife hand down on his knee several times before the knife dropped to the floor. Priestly then used his grip on that arm to spin the guy away from him, giving him clearance to go in for the fight. The guy swung a fist, but Priestly ducked and nailed him in the gut with a punch. As the guy staggered back, Priestly hit him again and again with several punches.

As Jen watched Priestly's anger-bent face as he beat the would-be rapist, she recognized that the man standing in front of her was not her fun-loving friend Priestly. This right here was the hunter Dean Winchester.

Priestly brought his foot up and kicked the guy in the sternum, sending him flying back against the cash register and sprawling to the floor. Priestly glared down at the unconscious guy, breathing heavily. He quickly looked up at the three girls sitting petrified at the tables.

"Tish…" breathed Priestly, rushing around the counter towards her and not caring that he was treading on the robber's hands.

Tish leaped up from the table as Priestly enveloped her in his arms, holding her tight.

"I got ya," breathed Priestly, a hand cradling her head against his chest. "It's over now. I got ya." He closed his eyes as he pulled Tish closer, worry written all over his face. He finally opened his eyes again, looking at Jen and Piper. "You guys okay?"

Jen nodded as she glanced over at Sam checking on Trucker. She looked back up at Priestly holding onto a sobbing Tish. By the look on his face, Jen could tell that with all his supernatural training lately, he had all but forgotten about the many **natural** dangers there were out there as well…dangers that could come for any one of them.


	10. Chapter 10

**It has come to my attention after reviewing my story that I have already had Sam discover the amulet and reveal its story to Priestly. Oops! So the following is a revision of the earlier chapter when that happened as they showed Priestly the Impala for the first time.**

Priestly looked at the shelf of the back window, finding two sets of initials carved there: DW and SW.

"We did that when we were kids," Sam told him.

"And which one of us did that?" asked Priestly, pointing at an army man crammed in the ash tray of the door.

Sam chuckled. "That'd be me. But you did this." He nodded up at John, who sat on the front seat and turned the car on.

John flipped the heat on, and a rattle started up from the vents.

Priestly frowned. "What the hell is that?"

"Legos that you shoved into the vent," said John.

Priestly listened to the Legos rattle in the heating vent as he stared at the army man in the ash tray before looking over at the initials carved into the car. He thought back to Sam calling him Dean in his excitement, thinking he was getting his brother back.

"You know what?" Priestly said, looking over at Sam. "I'm still going by Priestly, but…you guys can call me Dean if you want."

Sam and John smiled warmly, looking pleased at this small victory.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Nine

"And you fought him off?" asked the detective.

Priestly nodded, his arms still around Tish. "I've had training in martial arts. I saw him through the window, so I went around back to catch him off guard."

"Well, thank God you did," said the detective. "We've been looking for him for a while now."

Trucker stepped out of the back with another cop, handing him a video tape. "And we'll get this back after you make a copy?"

The cop nodded. "Definitely."

"Excuse me," said Noah Miller as he made his way through the cops and into the shop, following by Jeff Kenline. "Please, excuse me. Piper!"

"Oh, Noah!" exclaimed Piper as Noah rushed towards her and embraced her.

"Jen!" said Jeff, also hugging her. "Are you okay? I left as soon as you called."

Jen nodded in his embrace. "I'm okay."

Noah pulled away from Piper, looking her in the eye. "Are you okay? Nobody's…hurt?"

Piper gave him a reassuring look. "Yeah, all of us are fine. Don't worry."

"Oh, thank God," breathed Noah, pulling her back into his arms.

"If we have any further questions, we'll give you a call," said the detective. "I'm glad everyone's okay."

"Thanks," said Trucker, showing him to the front door.

"Have a good night, folks," said the detective as the cops all cleared out.

Zo stood from one of the tables and hugged Trucker again. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"I'll be okay," said Trucker, hugging her tight.

Soon after the fight was over, Trucker had woken up and called the cops. Zo had come running from across the street, worried because of a bad feeling she had gotten. Jen and Piper had then called their fiancé and boyfriend to tell them what had happened. Trucker had suffered a mild concussion, and Tish had a shallow cut on her neck, but luckily, no one had been seriously hurt.

"Everyone's okay, right?" Trucker asked the room.

"I think Tish is still shaky, but yeah," Priestly told him from their seat at a table.

"You okay, angel?" asked Trucker.

Tish nodded slightly. "I mean, I'm still a little freaked, but I'm better."

"I just can't believe this happened," muttered Priestly. "The thought of what that monster could have done to you." He hugged Tish a little closer.

"Well, if it's okay with Noah, I have some news that will cheer us all up," Piper spoke up, looking up at Noah with a questioning smile.

Noah nodded, smiling also. "Sure, why not?"

Piper looked around at everyone else with a brilliant smile. "We're pregnant!"

Cheers and shouts erupted at the news, and everyone stepped forward to congratulate the two.

"So, that's why you've been getting sick lately," said Jen.

"Yeah," nodded Piper.

Priestly frowned. "She's been sick?"

"Don't take it personally, Priestly," Tish told him. "You've been kinda busy lately."

Priestly shrugged. "True." He was so happy to see that Tish looked a little less upset now.

Priestly was so angry with the guy that had barged into the shop. He had come with the intention of hurting the woman he loved. But above all, he had taken Tish's sense of security away. The Grill had been Tish's home away from home, and now, it would only remind her of the fear she had felt. No matter where she went, she would now be burdened with the sense that it could happen again, anywhere and any time.

"How far along are you?" asked Jen.

"About two months," Piper answered.

"How did Julia take it?" asked Priestly.

Noah smiled. "Screamed. She can't wait to shop for the baby."

"She keeps running around telling everyone she's gonna be a big sister," Piper told them.

"Aw, Piper's gonna be a mommy," said Jen.

"Well, technically, I already was," Piper told her.

Noah smiled down at her. "More than once."

Piper smiled back up at him before her gaze fell back down to the others, spotting Sam and John. "Oh, I forgot you hadn't met yet. This is Priestly's brother Sam and their father John. Sam, John, this is my boyfriend Noah."

Noah eased away from Piper and stepped towards the two Winchesters, holding his hand out. "Nice to meet ya."

John shook his hand. "You, too."

Sam shook his hand also as Noah stepped back to Piper.

"And this is my fiancé Jeff," Jen introduced.

Jeff also shook their hands. "Pleasure."

"Okay, now that we're all acquainted, let's head home for the night," suggested Trucker. "We could all use some good rest."

"Good idea," nodded John.

Priestly wrapped an arm around Tish, leading her towards the door and following the others out. "See ya in the morning, Trucker."

Trucker waved at them as he closed the door to lock up.

*************************************************S PN/TIH******************************************** ******

Priestly eased under the covers, turning and pulling Tish to his chest. "You okay?"

Tish clasped onto his hand tightly, and Priestly could feel her suppressed sobs shaking her body.

"Hey," Priestly assured her, pulling her closer. "Hey, I got ya."

Tish's sobs broke free as she turned towards him, burying her face in his chest and clinging to him. "I was so scared."

"Shh…" soothed Priestly.

"He grabbed me…" sobbed Tish. "A-and I couldn't fight him off…"

"Shh, it's over," Priestly told her, stroking her hair. "I got you. It's over."

Tish looked up at him in the near darkness, tears shining in her eyes. "Don't leave me."

"Never," said Priestly, giving her a kiss.

As Tish snuggled back up to his chest, Priestly realized that he was right: he **would** never leave her…no matter what happened or came at them. Contrary to his recent doubts, he suddenly knew that he would never leave Tish.

**************************************SPN/TIH***** ************************************************** ****************************

**Three days later…**

Priestly aimed the shotgun into the darkness, eyes wide and alert for anything out of place. He glanced over at Sam, who shared a silent agreement that he didn't see anything either.

John had circled around the back of the library, where the woods crept up to the building, to look for where the body could have been buried. Sam and Priestly had been ordered to search the basement for any spaces or hollow walls the body may have been stuffed. So far, there was no sign of any paranormal activity, and it was setting Priestly on edge.

They came to a corner, and Priestly backed up against the wall right next to the corner. He and Sam nodded at each other, and Sam darted around the corner, aiming his gun that direction. After Sam's nod, Priestly spun around the corner, aiming his gun also. When they saw the coast was clear, they continued on down the hallway until they came to the main storage area.

"Cover me," said Sam, handing his salt gun to Priestly and starting to search the nooks and crannies for any possible place to hide the body.

Priestly tucked Sam's gun into his jacket, facing the rest of the room as Sam searched behind him. Each time Sam moved to a new spot, Priestly would move with him. He never took his eyes off of the room, though; he used his hearing like they taught him to listen for Sam's movements.

They spent almost an hour searching the area before admitting defeat.

"Maybe he wasn't buried here," shrugged Sam.

The door of the storage area slammed closed, drawing their attention.

"Or not," muttered Priestly, shouldering his salt gun once more. He dug into his jacket and tossed Sam his own.

Sam pulled his phone out and dialed their father. "You find anything?"

"Keep it distracted, boys," Priestly heard John's voice on the other line tell him. "I'm almost there."

The phone was suddenly flung out of Sam's hand and across the room, shattering on impact.

"Dammit!" shouted Sam. "I liked that phone!"

Priestly tensed and aimed the gun into the dark room, heart starting to race as the adrenaline pumped.

_Oh, man, this is __**so**__ cool! _Priestly thought. _We're like the Ghostbusters!_

Something latched onto him, and he found himself thrown across the room.

"Dean!" Sam called, shooting a round off.

Groaning, Priestly rolled over to see Sam aiming the gun around the room. A form flickered into being between them, and Priestly's jaw dropped at the sight.

"Holy…" muttered Priestly.

The spirit leveled its gaze at Sam, who went flying.

"Sam!" Priestly called.

The ghost spun around to glare down at Priestly, its pale eyes burning in rage. It raised its decaying hand towards Priestly, who found himself being pulled up the wall by the throat. Keeping a firm grip on his salt gun, Priestly gasped for breath as the spirit loomed closer. Priestly raised the gun and shot a round into the spirit. In a cloudy burst of static, the ghost dispersed in front of his eyes, dropping him from the wall.

Priestly looked down at the salt gun. "Sweet!"

Something hard caught him behind the knees, sending him falling over it to the floor.

Priestly groaned as his legs throbbed with pain along with the shoulder he had landed on. He heard Sam yell out across the room as the spirit went for him next.

"Well, at least we're keeping it distracted," Priestly grumbled.

The next second, he yelled out as something stabbed him in his left thigh just above the knee. He looked down to see a nail sticking out of his leg.

"Aw, son of a—" said Priestly.

"Heads up!" shouted Sam.

Priestly looked up to see the ghost bearing down on him. He glanced around and found his salt gun on the floor ten feet away. Eyes on the ghost, Priestly began pulling himself backwards along the floor towards it. His leg screamed as the movement caused the muscle to pull on the nail.

Halfway there, the ghost suddenly froze in its tracks, dead eyes going wide. It began to glow slightly until it threw its head back and exploded into flames. Priestly stared at the silent room for a moment before collapsing onto the floor, letting out a breath of relief.

"Are they always that close?" Priestly asked Sam about the close call.

"Closer," Sam told him, heading over to him.

Priestly eased up on his elbows, looking up at a bleeding cut on Sam's forehead. "You okay?"

Sam winced down at the nail in Priestly's leg. "Better than you." He put one hand on Priestly's leg and grasped the nail with his other. "Ready?"

"Give me one—" began Priestly.

Sam yanked the nail out of his leg, causing him to shout out.

"—second," gasped Priestly. He looked at the nail in Sam's hand, noticing that it was rusted. "Should I be worried about that?"

Sam glanced half-heartedly at the old nail before tossing it to the side. "No. With our line of work, you never know what you'll be crawling through, so we get our tetanus boosters every few years. We'll just clean it when we get back to the room."

"Awesome," muttered Priestly as Sam pressed his hand to the wound.

"So, how'd you like your first hunt?" asked Sam.

"Well, it wasn't really my first, was it?" smirked Priestly. "I just don't remember the others."

Sam chuckled a little. "You will. I'm sure of it."

"Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting," said Priestly.

"Well, hold on," Sam told him. "This was a piece of cake compared to most hunts."

"And oddly enough, that doesn't turn me off to hunting," said Priestly.

Sam smiled. "I figured." He pulled his hand away from Priestly's leg. "Alright, it looks like it's mostly stopped bleeding…or, gushing, anyway." He got his feet under him. "Come on, let's get you out of here." He grabbed hold of Priestly's arm. "Try not to move that leg."

Priestly clenched his jaw as he pushed himself to his feet with the help of Sam, keeping his left leg as still as possible.

"Good, alright," said Sam, moving Priestly's arm up and around his shoulders.

Together, they hobbled back out of the library and towards the Impala.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Ten

**And you all thought I forgot about Jessica…Well, yeah, okay, I did, until about chapter seven or so. But it actually works out much better with the plot this way.**

Priestly rubbed a hand over the gauze wrapped around his left thigh, wincing as the pressure pulled on the stitches. "Wow. This is just as good as the hospital did it."

"Told you I'm good," said John, putting the first aid kit back in his duffel on the bathroom floor.

"Well, thanks," Priestly told him gratefully as he rolled his baggy black pants back down over the patch job.

"No problem," John brushed off, throwing away the used thread and bloody toilet paper from the sink counter.

Priestly eased himself up from the edge of the tub, testing the weight of his body on his leg. Feeling a little twinge of the torn skin and stitches, he knew he would need to limp on that leg for the next few days to avoid ripping the stitches.

"So, Tish…" began John.

Priestly looked up at him.

"You're really serious about her?" asked John with a fond look on his face.

A smile found its way onto Priestly's face. "Yeah…I really am. I have never—" He paused and thought about it for a moment. "Well, it doesn't really mean much coming from me, but…I have never loved anyone more in my whole life."

John stared at him for a moment before smiling and chuckling.

"What?" asked Priestly with a chuckle.

"That's what I kept telling Mary's dad," said John.

Priestly smiled, feeling a slightly deeper connection to the father he couldn't remember.

"I hope she accepts your proposal when you give it," John told him.

"Thanks," said Priestly.

"I'll let you get changed," John told him, heading out into the motel room.

Priestly closed the bathroom door and changed into a more comfortable outfit for his injured leg. A few minutes later, he opened the door and limped into the motel room, listening to Sam speaking on the phone.

"—and we're doing okay," said Sam. He listened to the other line for a moment. "I'm not sure when I'll be able to visit next. I wanna stay with my brother while he's recovering from all this."

Priestly glanced over at him as he stuffed his old clothes into his bag.

"Yeah, I miss you, too," said Sam with a distant smile.

Priestly's brows rose in interest as he turned to face his brother.

"Alright, good luck on your finals," said Sam. "Love you, too, Jess." He hung up the phone.

"Who's Jess?" asked Priestly.

Sam turned to give him an answer and froze, staring with wide, confused eyes at him. "Is that a kilt?"

Priestly glanced down at his green, plaid kilt, looking back up at Sam. "Yeah, so? I've worn it before."

Sam stared disbelievingly at him.

"Let me guess: I wouldn't be caught dead in a skirt," smirked Priestly.

"Sounds about right," chuckled Sam.

"What can I say?" said Priestly. "The times, they are a-changing."

Sam smiled at his Bob Dylan reference, his gaze falling to the floor.

"So, who's Jess?" Priestly repeated.

Sam looked back up at him. "She's, uh…my girlfriend." He gave a smile that just didn't seem to be able to stay hidden. "Maybe even fiancé."

Priestly smiled. "Oh…Sammy-boy's getting hitched?"

"Well, no, I haven't asked her yet," Sam told him. "I wanna tell her about the family business before I do."

Priestly frowned. "She doesn't know yet?"

"Well, we can't all be as open-minded as Tish," Sam pointed out.

"Dude, she's not one of a kind," Priestly pointed back. He then smirked. "I mean, **I **like to think so." His face grew serious once more. "Just give her a chance. She might surprise you."

Sam nodded, still staring in uncertainty at his phone.

"How'd you two meet?" asked Priestly.

"Sophomore year," Sam answered. "She'd just finished her freshman year. My friend Brady took us to this party after finals. He introduced us."

"Match made in heaven?" asked Priestly.

Sam smiled. "Just about. We've been together four years now. She's just finishing her Bachelor's Degree of Arts."

"An artist?" asked Priestly.

Sam shook his head. "Psychologist."

Priestly winced. "Ooh. That just makes my head hurt thinking about it."

Sam chuckled. "Well, she has the brains for it. She's, like, scary smart."

"Sounds like your dream girl," said Priestly.

Sam smiled fondly. "Yeah, she does…"

"How you handling the separation?" asked Priestly.

"Not too bad," Sam replied. "It could have been worse if Dad hadn't dropped me off at Stanford to visit every once in a while."

"Well, that's nice of him," shrugged Priestly.

Sam shrugged. "Yeah, I know. Shocker, right?"

Priestly frowned, not getting where that comment had come from. "What?"

Sam looked up at him, seemingly coming to himself. "Oh, right, sorry. Of course, you wouldn't remember. I keep forgetting sometimes."

Priestly shrugged. "It's okay."

"Dad and I never really got along," Sam told him. "Like, at all."

Priestly thought back to the last couple of weeks, to Sam and John laughing as they told stories and hung out with Priestly and his friends. "You're kidding."

"I know," said Sam. "It doesn't track, right?" He sighed before continuing. "We used to fight all the time. He felt that we should be honoring Mom's memory by avenging her death and doing our job to save the people that we could. I felt that he was being unreasonable by forcing us into this depressing, isolating life. That's why I ran away to Stanford." He shrugged, shaking his head. "I was a kid, upset that my dad wanted me to learn bow-hunting instead of play soccer. I mean, I still sort of stand by what I felt then, but…I see now where he was coming from. It's our job; it's what we do. We help people." He fiddled with his cell phone. "I think the turning point was your…"

"Accident," Priestly supplied.

Sam nodded. "I backed off of him, quit arguing over every little thing with him. I could see now why he pushed us so hard growing up. He was just trying to make sure something wouldn't happen to us. Except now…it had. The surprising thing was, he backed off, too. I think it was shock at first. Then…it was almost as though he was trying to hang onto what he still had. He'd already lost one son and didn't want to lose another."

Priestly nodded, taking that in. He was just coming to realize the impact his disappearance had had on his family.

"After a while, the arguments became fewer and far between," Sam went on. He looked up at Priestly with a smile. "If _anything_ good could come out of your accident…that was it."

Priestly nodded. "Glad I could help."

Sam stared soberly at him. "I mean it. What you mean to us helped push us past our stupid, petty personal issues. I always took this for granted, but you've always been the glue that holds this family together…even when you're not there to do it."

"Aw, shucks, Sam," Priestly smiled dopily, trying to brush off the chick flick moment, but truly touched deep down.

Sam chuckled.

"So, what was your reaction to Dad showing up on your doorstep at Stanford?" asked Priestly.

Sam laughed again. "Could've been worse. I thought he was there to drag me back to the hunt. If Jessica hadn't been there, I probably would've blown up at him. And it wasn't my doorstep he showed up on; it was my couch."

Priestly frowned.

"Jess and I had gone out for a Halloween party to celebrate my aced LSAT," Sam explained. "At the end of the night, we headed back to our apartment."

************************************************** ***SPN/TIH**************************************** *********************

_Sam laughed with Jessica as he led her down the hallway to their apartment door. "You know it was more than five."_

"_And I'm telling you it was only four shots," Jessica laughed back._

"_Well, how can you even remember how many you had?" said Sam, pulling his key out of his pocket. "Too much alcohol in your system."_

"_Says Mr. Can't Hold My Liquor," laughed Jessica._

"_I am not drunk," Sam told her, putting his key in the lock._

"_Of course not," Jessica said, tugging on his jean jacket. "Scrooge doesn't like to celebrate."_

_Sam looked back at her. "That's Christmas, Jess. You need something more along the lines of Marilyn Munster."_

_Jessica giggled. "How do you even have that reference on the tip of your tongue?"_

_Sam turned the key in the door. "You can thank my brother for that."_

_Jessica scooted closer to him, hands on his hips. "I don't think you'd appreciate the way I want to show my thanks."_

_Sam laughed as he opened the door, and they stumbled inside, Jessica flipping on the lights. Sam's laughter froze in his throat as he stared at his father sitting patiently on the couch._

"_Dad…" breathed Sam, speechless._

"_Hiya, Sammy," said John, not standing from his seat._

"_What are you doing here?" Sam blurted, a little harsher than he intended._

_John's face clouded for a moment before clearing as his eyes slid from his face._

_Sam followed his gaze to Jessica. "Uh, sorry. Jess, this is my father John. Dad…this is my girlfriend Jessica."_

_Jessica stepped forward, holding her hand out. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, sir. I've heard so much about you."_

_John stood, shaking her hand as he stared into Sam's eyes. "I bet you have."_

"_What are you doing here, Dad?" asked Sam, his arms crossed._

_John released Jessica's hand and stepped back a little. "We need to talk." He tipped his head towards the door. "Privately."_

_Sam frowned his displeasure at him. "No." He stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Jessica. "No. Whatever you wanna say, you can say it in front of her."_

_John looked at Jessica and then back at Sam, and Sam braced himself for the fight._

"_Okay," John relented._

_Sam did a double take, starting to get on the defensive. Nothing rebellious Sam ever did just slipped past his father with nothing more than an "okay." It had to be a shapeshifter or a demon._

_John took a deep breath and stared Sam in the eye. "Dean's on a hunting trip…and he hasn't been home in a few days."_

_Sam's heart dropped straight to the floor. The only reason John Winchester would abandon the hunt and not fight with his stubborn, rebellious son…was that his son was in trouble._

"_Jess, excuse us," Sam told her. "We have to go outside."_

********************************************SPN/TI H************************************************* **********************

"Dad told me you hadn't answered his calls or contacted him in three weeks," Sam concluded. "It wasn't like you to ignore Dad like that. You were his perfect soldier. You did everything he asked you to. You would never cease contact like that unless…" He sighed, looking back up at Priestly. "I gave Jessica a cover story about you—you know, you and Dad were in the FBI—and I hit the road."

"You left?" asked Priestly in surprise. "Just like that?"

Sam gave him a puzzled and affronted look. "Dean, there is nothing in this world I wouldn't drop to help you."

Even though Priestly enjoyed the sentiment, he waved that off. "No, I mean your full-ride. Do you plan on going back? Will they even let you?"

Sam nodded, understanding now what Priestly had meant. "I explained what I could about the family emergency, and they said they were so impressed by my LSAT score and my academic standing that if I ever chose to come back, they'd have a law school interview waiting for me."

Priestly smiled, nodding. "Good. You'll get into law school, get your degree, get married, have a bunch of kids."

Sam smiled. "I hope."

Priestly watched him for a moment. "You really like her, huh?"

Sam stared off into space, a wistful glaze to his eyes. "I've never loved anyone more in my whole life."

Priestly looked up at John, who had stepped into the room a few moments ago, and they shared a secret smile.

****************************SPN/TIH*************** ************************************************** ***********

"Never fear!" Priestly called as he flung the door to the Grill open. "Priestly is here!"

Priestly!" Tish exclaimed, rushing over to him and flinging herself into his arms.

Priestly braced his weight mostly on his good leg and lifted her from the floor. Tish giggled as Priestly hugged her close.

"I missed you so much," Priestly breathed into Tish's hair.

"Me, too," Tish told him, leaning her head back and planting several big kisses on his lips.

"Ah-hem," Sam coughed in the doorway behind them.

Priestly laughed as he stumbled out of the door and set Tish back on the floor. "Sorry, guys."

"You're fine," said John, following Sam into the sub shop. "Just make sure you're out of the road next time."

"Will do," said Priestly, going back to Tish's kisses.

"So, how was your, uh…" began Jen, glancing over at Noah and Julia in the back booth, "hunting trip."

"Great," said Sam. "Bagged us an eight-point buck."

Understanding their code for "ghost is dead," the grill gang looked relieved.

"Sounds awesome," said Trucker. "Glad you had fun."

"Some of us more than others," muttered Sam with a glance at Priestly.

"What's that mean?" asked Tish.

Priestly shook his head. "Nothing."

Tish gave him a hard look.

"Look, it's no big deal," Priestly caved. "It doesn't even hurt anymore…barely. It was dark, and I tripped and fell on a nail, which shoved itself into my leg."

Tish lowered her voice. "And the real story?"

"Ghost flung it at me," Priestly whispered.

Tish's face paled significantly.

"It's okay," Priestly reassured her. "They had my back the whole time."

"They better," said Tish, wrapping her arms around him and leaning her head on his chest. "I don't know if I could ever let you go."

Priestly put a hand on her head. "I'd never do that to you."

"Good," said Tish. "'Cause I'm coming on the next hunt."

Priestly's heart froze in his chest. "You're what?"

"I wanna be a hunter," Tish told him, looking up at him. "Or at least, trained like one. If these things are out there, I need to fight one off if it comes after me."

Priestly stared her, this innocent being in front of him. He didn't want hunting to take her life and ruin it. It was too late for him; he had been doing this for twenty years, and he was pretty good at it. He even enjoyed it. But Tish…Tish had her whole life ahead of her.

_So did Mom…_ thought Priestly.

Mary had had her whole life in front of her, and it had been cut short because of a demon. If only she had known how to fight like a hunter…

Priestly nodded. "I'll teach you."

"You will?" asked Tish.

"You deserve to be able to defend yourself," said Priestly. "Then I'll have someone to watch my back."

Tish chuckled as Priestly hugged her close again.


	13. Chapter 13

Help me!

I think there might be a few tiny little things I might be missing.

I want this chapter to have the last of the little things of the show (like how I had Sam telling Priestly about Jessica and how he wants to marry her, Sam telling Priestly about Dean's amulet, Sam and John talking about Sam and Dean carving their initials in the Impala/Sam's army man in the ashtray/Dean's Legos in the vents.

I need another little fun story from the Winchesters' past that John/Sam/John **and** Sam can share with Priestly before the big action begins next chapter! EEEE!

So, put your little thinking caps in gear! It doesn't even have to be something that was really referred to on the show, and thus, actually happened to them. It could just be something you think would have happened to the Winchesters or something you want to hear as a story from them.

Maybe it could be a story from John about Mary? He hasn't really shared much with Priestly, or hung out with him at all, really. I've kind of been focusing more on Priestly & Sam.

And I'm not talking about anything related to Mary and her family being hunters. John would not have known about that at this point. (Trust me, I thought of doing it.)

Or maybe it was something that fills in the gaps, some little detail of Sam/Dean/John that will help Priestly put pieces together.

I'm going to write the rest of the chapter, but I'm counting on you guys to be creative there!


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Eleven

**Thank you so much for your ideas! It helped me come up with what I did! I really needed a John/Priestly scene and I found it! Enjoy!**

"Guys!" Piper exclaimed as she burst through the front door of the grill. "Check it out! Check it out!"

"You get the pictures?" squealed Tish in excitement.

"What pictures?" asked Priestly through his mouthful of sub sandwich at one of the tables with his family on lunch break.

"Her first ultrasound," Jen told him.

Priestly's face lit up. "Ooh, gimme!" He set his sub down and eased out of the booth, hurrying over to the three girls grouped around the photos in Piper's hands.

"You wait your turn!" Tish told him.

"What?" said Priestly. "Why?"

"Girls get to look at baby pictures first," Jen told him.

"Says who?" said Priestly.

"Us," said Tish. "We have to carry them, so we get first dibs."

"So not fair," Priestly grumbled.

"You'd rather trade?" suggested Piper.

"No!" Priestly exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Then I rest my case," said Piper.

Priestly turned back to John and Sam, who were failing to hide their laughter. "Help a guy out here."

"Sorry, Dean," John told him. "Woman's prerogative."

"There she is!" Piper exclaimed, pointing at one of the pictures.

"She?" asked Jen with wide eyes.

Piper shrugged. "Well, he, she; it's too early to tell yet."

"Oh, but still so cute and tiny!" exclaimed Tish.

"I know!" squealed Piper.

"Aw, I want one!" said Jen.

"Me, too!" said Tish.

Priestly's eyes went wide, and he slowly looked over at John and Sam as the girls continued to fawn over the ultrasound photos. John and Sam burst into hushed laughter as Priestly looked back at Tish.

"Really?" Priestly asked nervously.

He was just figured out a way to propose! He wasn't ready for kids yet!

Tish looked up at him, smiling at the "deer in the headlights" look on his face. "Well, not **now**. But some day, yeah."

Priestly let out a relieved sigh.

Tish smiled coyly and walked up to him. "Don't worry, Priestly. I am nowhere near ready to be a mom. And neither are you." She chuckled.

Priestly rolled his eyes as he hugged her.

"Okay," said Jen, handing the photo over. "Your turn."

Priestly took the photo as John and Sam stepped over to see also. "Aw, Piper, it's got your…blur."

The girls burst into giggles as Trucker walked in.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Me, apparently," said Priestly. "Check out Piper: The Next Generation." He held the photo out to Trucker, who took it.

Trucker smiled down at the picture. "This is great, Piper. Congratulations."

"Thanks," said Piper, accepting the photo back. "So, tomorrow night, bachelorette party!" She turned to Jen. "Be at Tish's place by six. And bring your party face."

Jen rolled her eyes. "You guys…"

"Hey, no complaining," said Tish. "Every bride gets a bachelorette party." She looked up at Priestly as she stood with his arm around her shoulders. "And what are the plans looking like for the bachelor party?"

Priestly frowned at Tish like it was a stupid question. "You know I can't discuss bachelor plans in front of the wife-to-be." He gestured at Jen.

Tish rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay."

Priestly smiled and squeezed Tish close for a second. "You know I love you, babe."

"I know," said Tish, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before heading to clean some dishes.

**********************************************SPN/ TIH*********************************************** ******************

Priestly leaned back on the couch in the motel room after work that evening, planting his feet on the edge of the cushions and resting his elbows on his knees. He closed his eyes and let the images flood his mind:

_John smiling as Priestly ran his hand over the initials carved into the Impala…_

"_Sam…" he smiled at Priestly. "My name is Sam. I'm your brother…"_

_Sam and John laughing in the sub shop…_

_John laughing as Priestly and Sam trained with the guns and Priestly kept kicking Sam's ass at it…_

_Sam bantering as Priestly sparred with him in the warehouse…_

_John placed a hand on Priestly's shoulder. "It's good to see you, son…"_

Priestly frowned as he played through those images and more again and again, getting no results.

"You okay?"

Priestly opened his eyes and glanced over to see John at the bathroom doorway. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry." He moved his gaze to the floor in front of him, getting lost in his thoughts again.

"What were you doing?" asked John.

Priestly hesitated before frowning up at him. "Trying to remember."

John stared at him for a moment, seemingly teetering between two emotions. "Anything?"

Priestly sighed, looking down at the floor. "No."

There was silence for a while as Priestly mulled over his predicament. No new memories had surfaced since his dream of the night this mother died. Everything had been starting to look up, but now…now he wasn't so sure. He was getting nowhere with the whole "getting my life back" thing.

"When we found out Mary was pregnant…" began John.

Priestly looked up at him, curious about where this was going.

"Your mother…" continued John, chuckling fondly as he stepped into the room and sat on the arm of the couch, "she went on a huge shopping spree."

Priestly smiled a little.

"Went straight to the store and bought a crib, baby carrier, high chair, stroller, toys…" John went on, the smile stretching across his face as the memories came back to him. "She went all out. It was like she'd been waiting for that day for years. I thought it was the happiest day of her life."

John looked over at Priestly, the smile directed at him lighting up his face. "But the day you were born…the smile on her face when she held you for the first time…" He sighed nostalgically. "You were her whole world."

Priestly smiled sheepishly down at the couch cushions.

"You still are," said John.

Priestly looked back up at him.

"Mine, too," John told him, "Whether you remember it or not, I'll always love you."

Priestly felt a swell of unexpected paternal love for this man as he smiled back at him. After a while, both men looked away from each other, having had their fill of the tender moment.

John awkwardly cleared his throat. "So…trying to remember…"

Priestly looked up at him.

"How?" asked John.

Priestly shrugged slightly. "You guys."

John frowned in confusion.

"Well, anytime I've remembered anything, it was triggered by stuff from my old life, from Dean," Priestly explained. "The Impala, when Sam grabbed me during our talk about hunting, the dream after you told me our life story…So, I've just been thinking about you guys and those few memories I have gotten. So far…nothing."

"Well, I got something that'll cheer you up," said John, standing as he dug into his back pocket for his wallet. Opening the wallet, he pulled a picture out and handed it to Priestly. Priestly eased his legs down as he leaned forward a little, holding the photo in front of him.

Priestly stared down at the family of four: John crouching over a young boy of three or four as Mary cradled an infant in her arms. But Priestly's attention was drawn to the toddler. He was wearing an AC/DC shirt with torn jeans, biker boots, what looked like a painted on lightning bolt tattoo, a big plastic pirate-looking earring, and a bright red Mohawk wig.

Priestly's eyes widened as a smile spread on his face. "Is that me?"

John nodded. "Halloween '83. I thought you'd appreciate that."

Priestly burst out laughing, brushing a hand over his blue Mohawk. "Don't need a wig this time, do I?"

"No, you don't," John laughed.

"Has Sam seen this?" Priestly asked.

"Has Sam seen what?"

Priestly and John looked up to see that Sam had snuck in with the takeout bags while they had been distracted.

"Dude, you gotta see this," Priestly told him, thrusting the photo in his direction.

Sam frowned, putting the bags on the table and walking over. Taking the photo, he stared at it all of two seconds before laughing.

"Oh, my God!" laughed Sam as John and Priestly joined in. He looked up at John. "Why haven't I seen this before?"

John shuffled awkwardly on his feet. "It brought back…memories."

Sam looked back down at the photo, realizing what it meant, and his face fell a little.

Priestly looked between the two of them. "Why do I get the feeling those aren't happy memories?"

John looked down at him. "Halloween '83…Two nights before Mary died."

Priestly looked over at the photo still clutching in Sam's hands with an all new light.

"I kept it 'cause it was the last night we spent as a family," said John. "I never showed it to you 'cause it reminded me of…that night." He smiled over at Priestly. "But now I have a whole new way to look at it."

Priestly held his hand out for the photo, and Sam handed it over.

Priestly stared at his four-year-old self in the picture, who was holding a hand up—thumb, forefinger and pinky extended—sticking his tongue out. "What was I supposed to be?"

"A punk rock groupie," said John.

Priestly laughed and handed the photo back to John, who put it back in his wallet. "Alright, let's eat! What do we got?"

Sam headed to the table and handed Priestly one of the bags. "Got you a double cheeseburger."

"Extra onions?" asked Priestly.

Sam gave him an annoyed smiled. "Extra onions."

"Sweet," said Priestly, pulling his food out as the three of them sat down at the table.

*************************************SPN/TIH****** ************************************************** ****************

Priestly pulled up to a stop in the small parking lot in Trucker's VW microbus. "Alright, you can open your eyes."

Jeff opened his eyes and glanced through the side window. He looked back at Priestly with a pointed smile. "Priestly, you told Jen you wouldn't have strippers at the party."

Priestly's eyes swept over the building to their right as he turned around towards Jeff. "No, I promised Jen I wouldn't bring strippers to the party. Didn't say nothing about bringing the party to the strippers." He smirked at him as he undid his seatbelt and hopped out of the van. "Come on, gang! Let's party!"

Sighing and chuckling, Jeff, Trucker, Noah, Sam, John and Jeff's brother Travis jumped out of the van and followed Priestly towards the strip club.

**Hope you guys enjoyed the last angst-free chapter for a while. Next chapter starts the big action climax of the story!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Twelve

**Okay, people! Cue the big action sequence! Lights, camera, and...ACTION!**

Jen woke up on the air mattress at Tish's place, stretching as the sun trickled through the blinds of the bedroom window. She sighed as she allowed herself to relax in the early morning.

Last night, Tish, Jen and Piper had crashed in Tish and Priestly's apartment after the bachelorette party as the other girls had gone home. Priestly had opted to stay with his dad and brother in their motel room to give the girls privacy in Bride Central. Jeff was back at his and Jen's place to get ready for the wedding.

"Happy wedding day!"

Jen looked up to see Piper and Tish at the door of the bedroom, a breakfast tray in their hands.

"You guys, you didn't have to," smiled Jen as she sat up.

"Oh, nonsense," Piper waved off. "That's what bridesmaids are for."

"Alright, up, up, up!" said Tish, gesturing at the bed.

Jen peeled the blanket back and climbed up into the bed next to the air mattress, leaning back against the pillows as they placed the tray over her lap.

"We have a wonderful entrée of French toast topped with whip cream and strawberries," began Piper with a stiff, as-close-as-she-could-get-it French accent. "And for your sides, we have eggs over-easy with hash browns and applesauce. And to top it all off, freshly squeezed orange juice. Bone appétit, madam!"

Jen laughed as she dug into the French toast first.

******************************************SPN/TIH* **********************************************

Priestly stood in front of the bathroom mirror, combing his dyed, black hair straight up. He didn't do this hairstyle often, but he felt a wedding didn't call for Mohawk or spikes.

"Huh."

Priestly turned to see Sam in the doorway, leaning on the frame with his arms crossed.

Sam stared at the jet black hair on his head with a frown. "Kinda mild for you, isn't it?"

Priestly glanced upwards at his hair and looked back at Sam with a chuckle. "Yeah, well…I don't wanna draw attention away from Jen."

"Thoughtful," smiled Sam.

Priestly put the comb in the toiletries bag he had grabbed from his apartment yesterday along with his suit for the big day. He grabbed the eyeliner pencil from the bag and leaned toward the mirror a little, outlining his eyes.

"Mild, huh?" said Sam.

"Mild, not subtle," said Priestly, starting on the other eye.

His cell phone began ringing in the other room to the tune of "Speaking in Tongues" by Eagles of Death Metal.

"Hey, can you get that?" asked Priestly, concentrating on the eyeliner.

"Sure," said Sam, heading into the main room.

After a moment or so, Sam stepped back into the doorway.

"It's Jeff," said Sam, holding the phone out to him.

Priestly finished up his eye and put the pencil down, grabbing the phone as he stepped past Sam. "Hey, Jeff."

"Hey, Priestly," said Jeff on the other line. "Can you do me a big favor?"

"Sure thing, man," said Priestly.

"My cousin is laid up in the hospital with bronchitis," said Jeff. "Can you stand in as an usher?"

"Yeah, totally," Priestly told him. "No problem."

"Great!" said Jeff. "Uh, what kind of suit do you have?"

"Black, white shirt, blue tie," said Priestly.

"Perfect," said Jeff. "I'll give you the black tie when you get here. Hour and a half?"

"Sounds good," nodded Priestly.

"Thanks again, Priestly," said Jeff.

"Hey, no worries," said Priestly. "See ya later." He hung up. "Okay, change of plans. I gotta be there an hour early. You guys coming with?"

"Yeah, why not?" said John from the table, finishing his breakfast. "We'll help them finish setting up."

"Rolling and on the road in thirty minutes!" Priestly called, heading back to the bathroom to apply his piercings.

Angled in the mirror, he saw John give Sam an affronted look. "Who died and made you dad?"

**********************************************SPN/ TIH*********************************************** *********************

Jen stood in front of the mirror as Zo pinned the last of the veil into the top of her bun. Ever since Jeff had proposed, Jen had been growing her hair out, and it had finally gotten long enough to pin it back into a functioning bun.

"There," said Zo, pulling the edges of the veil out to just barely drape over Jen's shoulders. "Perfect."

Jen smiled at the white gown she was wearing. It was sleeveless with just one strap that went across her chest and up over her right shoulder. It flowed in layers down to the floor, trailing behind her for about two or three feet.

"Thank you, Zo," said Jen. "It's beautiful."

"Well, you make it beautiful, Jen," Zo told her.

The door of the back room opened, and Tish and Piper walked in, Piper with a hand over her stomach.

Jen gave her a sympathetic frown. "Your stomach gonna be okay?"

Piper nodded. "Don't worry. I'm all yours now. Morning sickness usually fades about now anyway."

"Good," said Jen. "I'd hate for you to miss this."

"Me, too," said Piper. Her eyes suddenly widened. "Aw, Jen!" She stepped closer to her. "You look so beautiful!" Her shoulders hitched as tears sprang into her eyes.

"Oh, Piper," said Tish, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You okay?"

Piper nodded as she hastily wiped away the tears that kept coming. "Yeah. I don't know why." She gestured at the tears.

"Aw, the hormone bomb," frowned Tish. "Sorry."

"I'll be fine," said Piper, wiping away the last of the tears. She smiled up at Jen. "Oh, my God! You're getting married today!" She clapped her hands excitedly.

Tish and Jen exchanged raised brows at Piper's rapidly changing moods, and they smiled.

Jen looked down at her wedding gown. "What do you think?"

Tish smiled and shook her head. "Damn, girl, Jeff won't know what hit him."

Jen smiled. "You think?"

Piper nodded. "Definitely."

"Well, then…" said Jen, turning back towards the mirror and sighing, "let's do this."

******************************************SPN/TIH* ************************************************** **

Priestly accepted the black tie from Jeff at the door of one of the church's back rooms, gesturing at his hair. "Now, I'm **really** glad I went with the black."

Jeff chuckled. "Jen probably would've had a heart attack if you walked my mother down the aisle with a lime green Mohawk."

"Yeah, I'll bet," said Priestly. "Now, remind me again. What am I doing?"

"Just mingle for now, but keep close to the auditorium doors," Jeff told him. "When someone wants to be seated, ask them if they're friends of the bride or groom. I'm the right side, Jen is on the left. Always escort the eldest woman of the group. Wait for them to be seated and then head back to the auditorium doors. The only people you don't seat before the ceremony starts are the parents of the bride and groom.

"When it is time, you'll seat my parents on the right in the front. Then seat Zo on the left in the front. Trucker, of course, will be giving Jen away. Don't seat anyone after that until Jen has entered. If anyone's late, put them in the back. Think you got it?"

"Oh, yeah, piece of cake," said Priestly.

"You need the after-ceremony instructions?" asked Jeff.

"Nah," said Priestly, waving him off. "It's basically the same thing, but in reverse, right? Wedding party leaves, we escort Zo, then your parents, then the grandparents, then everyone else."

Jeff nodded. "Good job. And thanks again."

"Happy to help," said Priestly, flinging the tie around his neck as Jeff went back into the room.

Priestly took ten minutes to get his tie done up and straightened, using the mirror there in the hallway to make sure he looked at least halfway presentable. He nodded confidently at his reflection. "Haven't gotten this dressed up since the day Tish and I hooked up."

Priestly headed down the hallway towards the front of the church, coming upon the small crowd of wedding invitees as they milled about the foyer. He made his way towards the closed auditorium doors, taking up his usher post. He greeted a few people before Sam and John found their way to him, both wearing distinguished suits.

"Well, don't you look smashing," said Sam.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny," said Priestly. He frowned at their wardrobe. "Where'd you get the suits on such short notice?"

"They're our F.B.I. suits," John told him in a lowered voice. "For questioning."

"Gotcha," nodded Priestly.

"I never thought I'd see the day."

Priestly glanced over to see Tish and Piper headed his way, both wearing lavender spaghetti-strap dresses that came down to their knees.

"Priestly dyed his hair a natural color," said Tish.

"Well, don't get used to it," Priestly told her.

"Don't worry, I haven't," Tish replied.

Priestly smiled at her. "You know, you should wear dresses more often. You look amazing."

"Mm," hummed Tish. "If it gets me more compliments like that, maybe I will." She leaned up and gave Priestly a deep, loving kiss.

Sam coughed a little to break them up.

"How's Jen doing?" asked Priestly.

"Couldn't be happier," said Piper.

"Great, then, I'm happy for her," said Priestly.

"Excuse me."

Priestly turned to see the minister next to him.

"It's time to start seating," the minister told him.

"Got it," said Priestly, turning towards the doors as the other usher—Jeff's old college friend—helped open them.

"Priestly?" asked Tish. "You're helping to seat? Are you an usher?"

Priestly popped the door's kickstand down and stepped a little inside as the first guests headed for the registry. "Yeah. Jeff's cousin took a sick day, so I'm filling in."

"Oh, yay!" exclaimed Piper, nearly bouncing on her feet. "You get to participate like the rest of us!"

Priestly raised his brows at Tish in question, and Tish mouthed "hormones."

Priestly nodded and smiled at Piper. "You bet." He watched the other usher escort the first guests as the second signed the registry. "You girls better head into the back now."

"Okay, good luck!" said Piper, turning away with Tish.

"Good luck to you, too," said Piper as he offered his arm to the woman approaching him.

***************************************SPN/TIH**** ************************************************** *******

Trucker knocked on the door of the back room. "You in there, angel?"

"Come in," Jen called.

Trucker eased the door open, finding Jen sitting at the vanity on the other side of the room.

Trucker stopped in the doorway, smiling at her. "Look at you."

Jen turned to beam at him.

"You're glowing," said Trucker, walking over to her.

Jen blushed, looking down at her lap. "Oh, you're too kind."

"It's the truth," shrugged Trucker, sitting in the chair next to her. "You are glowing."

"It's the dress, I promise you," Jen told him. "Every girl glows when you put a wedding dress on them."

Trucker leaned forward a little. "**You** make the dress glow. And I think Jeff agrees."

Jen smiled as she fingered the engagement ring on her hand. "Thanks for giving me away, Trucker."

"Happy to do it," said Trucker.

Jen gazed down at her left hand before sliding the engagement ring off her finger. "Can you hang onto this during the ceremony?"

Trucker took the ring from her. "I'll guard it with my life." He slid the ring into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

Jen looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"Half hour to go," said Trucker. "You ready?"

Jen smiled over at him. "More than ready."

Trucker stood and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm gonna go make sure everything's going okay. I'll see ya in half an hour."

"Okay," said Jen, turning to apply the last minute touch-ups to her appearance as Trucker closed the door behind himself.

*****************************************SPN/TIH** ************************************************** *************

Priestly stood at the doorway of the chapel, looking in at the small auditorium of full pews. The guests all sat talking quietly amongst themselves, most of them looking around in confusion or worry. Priestly glanced across the way at the other usher, who was frowning down at his watch.

Priestly looked back into the auditorium, where Jeff and the minister stood at the front of the stage. Jeff was watching the doors where he stood nervously as the minister held his Bible close, tapping his foot almost impatiently.

Priestly turned slight to look at Zo, Jeff's parents, Jen's grandparents and Jeff's grandpa gathered in the foyer, waiting to be seated and start the ceremony. They had all been standing there for twenty minutes now, waiting for the cue to begin. Priestly glanced back into the auditorium at the anxious guests and worried groom.

_It's not like Jen to be late,_ he thought.

Priestly looked back into the foyer as his new hunter's spidey sense tingled. As his gaze locked onto Zo, she silently communicated the same thing back to him: something was very wrong.

Priestly nodded at her before turning and heading down the hallway that led to the back rooms. He made his way to the green room where the wedding party was supposed to wait until the ceremony. He opened the door to find the two groomsmen, the best man and Julia sitting inside.

Priestly glanced around real quick and looked at the rooms' four occupants. "Where is everyone?"

"Piper and Tish left a while ago now," Julia told him with a small frown. "They didn't say where they were going, but they looked worried."

Priestly did not like the sound of that. He turned and started to head further down the hall when Piper came around the corner, tears falling down her face.

"Piper?" Priestly called.

Piper looked up at him. "Priestly!" She stumbled forward into his arms.

Priestly held her tight. "Hey, hey, it's okay. What happened?"

"She's—" sobbed Piper, too overcome by her emotions to speak clearly. "I don't—I can't—"

Priestly held onto her arms as he pulled away from her, hunter instincts kicking in. "Piper, breathe. What happened? What's going on?"

Piper took a couple breaths. "We can't find Jen."

Priestly stared at her in shock as his eyes widened, his spidey sense spiraling into full blown alarm bells.

"She's missing!" Piper cried.

**And...CUT! That's a wrap!**

**Bet you didn't see that coming, huh?**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Thirteen

**Sorry for the delay! I so did not mean to take this long. I had a family reunion, and then I am house-sitting for a friend while she's at her son's graduation in Texas. I have actually had this written for days now, but I forgot her Wifi code at her house. I finally found time to type it up at work! Enjoy!**

"Missing?" asked Priestly, flipping into detective mode. "As in, taken?"

"I don't know—" gasped Piper. "I just—" Another gasp. "I don't know—" Another gasp.

Priestly squeezed her shoulders a little tighter. "Piper, calm down. You need to breathe." He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly a couple times, trying to get her to mimic him.

After a few moments, Piper started to imitate him, her breaths growing slower and deeper.

"Good," said Priestly. He pointed back at the green room doorway. "I need you to head in there and wait. Don't tell anyone about Jen yet. Can you do that?"

Piper nodded, and Priestly escorted her to the door before turning and heading down the hall towards Jen's dressing room. He opened the door, foolishly expecting a scene of struggle in the room he could investigate. Instead, he found a room perfectly in order, not a thing out of place.

Priestly frowned as his eyes roved over the vanity. _Except that…_

He moved over to the vanity, looking down at the small crack in the mirror. He reached forward, brushing his fingers lightly over the crack. As his arm moved, he caught a glimpse of something shiny in the mirror. He turned to the loveseat he had seen it under in the reflection, kneeling down and reaching under it. His fingers brushed over something metallic, and he picked it up, staring at it.

_Jen's earring…_

He had recognized it immediately; it was the same pair she'd been wearing at the grill before a date with Jeff and had then lost one. The team had spent a good fifteen minutes searching before Priestly had found it under the oven. He would recognize it anywhere.

Priestly looked from the earring, which looked a little bent on one side of the diamond casing, to the crack in the mirror.

_Now, what are the odds that Jen threw this when she's happy for her wedding day?_

Looking closer at the earring, he spotted red. Turning the earring around, he found blood along the small post.

The bottom dropped out of Priestly's stomach, and his heart just about stopped. His vision began to dim, spiraling down to that one blood-stained earring. The implications of that earring were too much to take. As he began to hyperventilate, he got a hold of himself.

_Freaking out isn't helping Jen. Focus!_

He breathed in and out as he brought his panic back down to a manageable level. After a few moments, the world came back into focus, and he found himself standing at the door of the room, gripping the doorjamb in one hand and Jen's earring in the other. He had gotten to his feet somewhere in the midst of his panic attack, wanting to escape the room.

As he stared down at the floor, he spotted something else out of place. Priestly released the door frame and squatted down, reaching towards the pale yellow stuff at the bottom of the wall next to the door. The powdery substance stuck to his fingers, and he brought his hand up to his face, sniffing at it and getting a big whiff of rotten eggs.

"Sulfur…" Priestly muttered, staring in horror from the yellow powder to the bloody earring. "Oh, crap…"

Priestly sprang to his feet, rushing out of the room and down the hall. He emerged into the foyer, desperate to get to his dad and brother so he could pull them out of the wedding chapel and—

_Wait._

Priestly pulled himself up short before he reached the chapel doors. He couldn't just burst in there. They were all already worried about the delay. If he ran in there all flustered, they would fear the worst and cause a panic.

Ignoring the couple people in the foyer calling his name, Priestly steeled himself and stepped into the doorway, walking slowly yet urgently down the aisle towards the fifth row where Sam and John sat discussing something in hushed voices. Heads turned as he headed down the aisle, and Jeff seemed to sigh in relief. That relief turned once again to confusion and then worry when Priestly stopped at the pew, turning to face the foyer doors.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," Priestly told Sam and John, who looked up at him in confusion. "You have an urgent phone call in the lobby."

From the looks on their faces, he could tell some of the concern was showing through his calm façade.

"Right," said John, clearing his throat. "Of course."

He stood as Sam did also, and they stepped into the aisle, heading for the doors. Priestly followed them, giving people an awkward, short smile as he went. Sam and John headed into the foyer and to the left, away from the wedding party, before they turned to Priestly, all business.

"What is it?" asked John.

"Jen's missing," Priestly replied.

"Missing?" asked Sam, eyes wide.

Priestly nodded. "Taken."

"How do you know?" asked John.

Priestly held up the bloody earring in his left hand. "I found this."

John took hold of the earring, looking at it.

"I also found this," Priestly told them, holding up his right hand for them to see the sulfur on his fingertips.

"Sulfur," John confirmed.

"A demon took her?" asked Sam. "Why?"

"I don't know," said Priestly desperately. "But we can find him, right?"

John nodded. "There are signs we can check: lightning storms, temperature fluctuations. Did you find anything else?"

"Other than these two, her dressing room was clean," Priestly told them.

"Okay, we're gonna have a second look to make sure," said John, gesturing to Sam. "Someone needs to tell everyone a cover story."

"What cover story?" asked Priestly. "She eloped _without_ the groom?"

"An appendicitis," Sam supplied. "Those can crop up fast. You got this covered?"

"Yeah," Priestly nodded.

John and Sam turned and started to head down the hall.

"Guys," Priestly called.

They stopped and looked back at him.

"We gotta find her," Priestly told them.

John nodded. "We will." He turned and led Sam towards the dressing room.

"Priestly."

Priestly turned to see Tish standing in the foyer, brows drawn together in anguish.

"What's going on?" she asked. "Do you know what happened to Jen?"

Priestly looked in the direction his family had gone and then back at Tish, sighing and stepping over to her. He placed his hands around hers. "Tish…Jen's been kidnapped."

Tish's face paled. "By what?"

"A demon," Priestly said quietly.

Tish's eyes went wide and began tearing up. "A demon? B-But Jen isn't—She doesn't have anything to do with—"

Priestly's hands moved to her shoulders. "Hey, nothing is going to happen to her. We will find her and kill that evil son of a bitch. I promise."

Tish nodded, taking deep breaths.

"Now, I need you to do something," said Priestly.

Tish nodded once again.

"I need you to go in there and tell everyone that Jen had an emergency appendicitis and was rushed to the hospital," said Priestly. "They'll be contacted when the wedding is rescheduled."

"Why me?" asked Tish.

"The only people that would've known are those that were with her," Priestly explained. "Everyone knows Zo has been out there, Piper's a wreck, which leaves you. Can you do this?"

Tish nodded a couple times. "Yeah…Yeah, I can do it."

"Then grab the others and meet at the shop," said Priestly. "Remember, to Jeff, Noah and the others, my dad and brother are F.B.I., not hunters."

Tish nodded one last time before turning towards the chapel and heading inside.

Priestly turned on his heel and strode toward the dressing room, finding Sam and John focusing intently on separate spots in the room. "Anything?"

They both looked up at him.

"Looks like you were right," said John. "It's pretty spotless. Nice job on the search, by the way."

Priestly nodded off the compliment. "We **will** find her, right?"

John gave him as close to a warm smile as he could under the circumstances. "We will."

"We **are** pretty good at what we do, remember?" Sam reminded him.

Priestly nodded. "Right. Of course." He cleared his throat. "I've got Tish rounding up the gang to meet us at the grill."

"Okay," said John. "We've done all we can here. Let's do recon. See if we can find any other incidents in town."

**************************************SPN/TIH***** ************************************************** *************

Tish made her way down the aisle, feeling everyone's eyes on her. She kept her gaze riveted to the floor, trying to compose herself for what she was going to say. As she stepped up onto the low stage, she avoided Jeff's eyes, which probably only made him more upset.

Tish turned towards the guests, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but the wedding is going to be postponed. Jen started feeling very sick, so we called an ambulance. The doctor just called and said it was appendicitis. Not to worry, though. Jen is doing okay and will be back on her feet in no time. Um…you'll be called about when the wedding will be rescheduled."

The guests all stood, muttering amongst themselves, and wishing the groom and family members get well wishes as they left. When at last the only people left in the auditorium were Jeff, Tish, Trucker and Noah, Jeff stepped over to Tish.

"Come on, I wanna get to the hospital as soon as I can," said Jeff, heading for the exit.

"Well, that's the thing," Tish called out, halting Jeff's progress towards the doors. "She won't be there."

Jeff frowned. "At the hospital? Why not? I thought you said you called an ambulance."

Tish sighed, looking around at everyone as Piper, Zo and Julia walked in with the rest of the wedding party. "There's something you guys should know."

************************************************** SPN/TIH******************************************* *********************************

Priestly shifted his shoulders, extremely uncomfortable wearing his suit for this long. Perhaps it was the way he had been dressing the last two years or maybe he just never liked suits, but he did not want to be in this thing anymore.

"And you're sure there haven't been any disappearances lately?" Sam asked the police officer they were interviewing at the station.

"Not since Sherry Winters last spring," the officer replied.

"Any strange deaths?" asked Sam.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," said the officer.

"What about weird occurrences?" asked John. "Anything abnormal or unexplained?"

The officer frowned in thought. "Not really. It's all pretty quiet in this town."

"Well, thank you for your time," said Sam.

The three hunters turned and left the station, heading towards the Impala.

"That didn't sound promising," muttered Priestly, loosening his tie.

"It happens," said John. "We run into hunts where it is **literally** the only weird thing going on."

"But we still have other options, right?" said Priestly as he stopped at the back passenger door and watched John circle around to the driver's side. "Other leads?"

John exchanged a quick look with Sam at the front passenger door before looking down as he opened the driver's door, completely avoiding Priestly's stare. "We always do."

As Sam climbed into the passenger seat and John into the driver's, Priestly stared across the roof of the car, not really comforted by John's false platitudes.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Fourteen

Priestly led Sam and John into the sub shop, pulling his tie off and unbuttoning the top couple buttons of his dress shirt. The three of them were immediately bombarded with questions from those waiting inside. Sam and John stared overwhelmed at everyone before Priestly put his thumb and finger to his lips and whistled.

"Everybody, calm down," Priestly told them as they settled. "We're working as hard as we can."

"What's this about Jen being kidnapped?" Jeff demanded. "Why would you need a cover story for that?"

"To avoid panic," John told him. "Now, we need to ask you guys some questions—"

"Why would Jen be kidnapped?" Jeff asked. "It doesn't—"

"Jeff, dude, you need to calm down," Priestly told him. "Trust them, they're professionals. The sooner we get these answers, the sooner we can find Jen."

Jeff sighed before nodding.

"These questions may seem a little weird, but they fit our bad guy's M.O., so bear with us," John explained. "Has anyone noticed anything weird lately? Something or some_one_ out of place?"

He was answered with shakes of heads.

"How about black smoke?" asked Sam. "Anyone seen any black smoke?"

Again, negative head shakes.

"Smelled any rotten eggs or sulfur?" asked John.

"No!" burst Jeff. "What kind of questions are these?"

Priestly clapped a hang on Jeff's shoulder. "What can I say? This guy is one weird criminal."

Sam walked over to the computer on the counter. "Then we start at square one." He sat down on the stool and began typing away.

John pulled out his cell phone and headed into the back room.

Tish stepped over to Priestly. "Any luck?"

Priestly shook his head. "Trail ran cold outside the church, and the cops didn't have any useful information. But don't worry. Dad and Sammy'll come up with something."

"Priestly," said Jeff as he stepped over, a worried look on his face.

Tish excused herself and went to comfort Piper, Noah and Julia.

"Please tell me the truth," Jeff begged, tears starting to form in his eyes. "Is there any chance of finding Jen alive?"

Priestly clenched his jaw determinedly. "Definitely. Trust me, if anyone can pull this off, it's us."

Jeff nodded, breathing out a shaky sigh of relief as he wiped a stray tear away.

Trucker walked up to them, placing a hand on Jeff's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Jeff. She's gonna be okay."

Jeff nodded as Trucker pulled Jen's engagement ring out of his pocket.

Trucker held up the ring. "For when we find her." He placed the ring in Jeff's hand.

"Thanks, Trucker," Jeff told him, holding the ring tight.

John walked back into the lobby, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "Okay, I got some contacts of mine searching some parameters. While we wait for him to call back, let's get some refreshments. An army marches on its stomach. Dean, can you help?"

"Yeah," Priestly nodded, heading over to the soda fountain.

He set out glasses, and John filled them with water as he got them. About halfway through, Priestly noticed John tipping some liquid into each glass of water. He could guess easily enough what John was doing: adding holy water to the drinks.

"You think it's in one of them?" Priestly whispered to him.

"Maybe," said John. "It would be an easy way in."

Priestly nodded, trying to think of how he would explain to Jeff, Noah and Julia what was happening if one of them began burning and yelling. He wasn't really worried about Zo; he had a hunch that she'd known about things like this for years.

John handed him a few glasses, and Priestly headed over to Piper, Noah and Julia, handing the glasses to them.

"Thanks," said Noah.

Priestly watched out of the corner of his eye on his way back to the soda fountain as his three friends took sips of water and nothing happened. Priestly took two more glasses to Trucker and Zo with the same reaction. Nothing happened with Tish and Jeff, either.

John sighed. "Well, it wasn't one of us."

"Next move?" asked Priestly.

John glanced over at Sam. "Research."

Piper stood from the table she sat at with Noah and Julia, heading around the counter towards Priestly and his father. "I'm not sure if it's related or not, but I just remembered something."

"Yeah, great, anything," nodded Priestly.

"At the bachelorette party last night, there was this guy staring at us a lot," Piper told them. "He never made any move from his table, but every time we looked at him, he was watching us."

"Anything you can tell us about him?" asked John.

Piper shook her head. "All I know is when we got up to leave the restaurant, I looked over, and he was just gone."

"Which restaurant did you guys go to?" asked Priestly.

"Roland's Bar and Grill," Piper answered.

"Okay, thanks, Piper," said Priestly, turning back to John as Piper went back to her table.

"Alright, we're gonna go check out Roland's," John told him. "Tell Sam. I'll get our gear together." He headed out the door towards the Impala.

Priestly stepped over to Sam. "Hey, the demon might've been at the bar the girls were at last night. Dad and I are gonna go check it out."

Sam nodded. "Gotcha. See you when you get back."

Priestly gave a half-glance at his friends gathered in the shop. "You got this handled?"

Sam gave him an exasperated look. "I **have** been doing this longer than you, you know."

Priestly gave him a look, brows raised.

"Okay, technically, you are older than me, but you don't remember anything past two years ago, so…" Sam told him.

Priestly gave him a smirk. "Point taken, bro." He turned towards the door as Tish intercepted him.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Piper gave us a lead," Priestly explained. "We're gonna check it out and come back."

Tish wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. "Be careful."

"Careful's my middle name," smirked Priestly. He gave her a kiss and turned to the door, heading out to the Impala.

********************************************SPN/TI H************************************************* ******

"Do you remember any suspicious characters?" John asked the restaurant manager.

"Well, we get a couple weird ones every now and then," said the man. "It is a bar. But I haven't had anyone that made me keep an eye on them for at least a week or so now."

"Do you remember a bachelorette party last night?" asked John.

"Oh, yeah, gave them a round of free drinks," said the manager.

Priestly watched as John questioned the manager, consuming his attention so Priestly could snoop. Priestly made his way around the tables, holding the EMF meter down by his side. As he passed by a booth in the corner, the meter lit up and began whining.

Priestly quickly shut it off, looking around to make sure no one noticed. Thankfully, the servers were busy with tables on the other side of the dining room. Stuffing the detector into his pocket, he squatted down in front of the booth, looking for any signs he could find. He frowned as he spotted a mark on the hardwood floor. Pulling a small flashlight out of his jacket, he shone the light onto the mark.

Embedded in the grains along one strip of wood was something yellow, and Priestly had a pretty good idea what it was.

Priestly scratched at the graining with his fingernail and then brought it up to his nose to smell. "Yep…sulfur…"

"Hey."

Priestly stood and faced his father. "Anything?"

"The manager was no help, big surprise," John said. "Then again, they usually stay up front or in the kitchen. But one of the waitresses remembers a guy she served last night that was 'really creepy' and kept staring at a table of girls. She says he had a specific request for his order: no salt. What'd you find?"

Priestly held up the finger with the sulfur under the nail. "Looks like it got stuck in the wood graining when they swept the floors last night." He pulled the EMF meter out. "EMF's lighting up, too."

"Okay, it looks like this wasn't just random, then," said John. "This demon was either watching the girls or tracking Jen specifically."

"But why?" asked Priestly. "What would a demon want with Jen? She isn't a hunter."

"Maybe it didn't pick anyone," John theorized. "Maybe it was just out for anyone and his eye happened to fall on Jen." He gave a thoughtful shrug. "Or…"

Priestly frowned at him. "Or what?"

"Maybe it's trying to get to us," said John.

"By picking off my friends," Priestly muttered. He clenched his jaw. "Oh, I'm really gonna kill him."

John's phone rang, and he pulled it out, looking at the screen. "It's Sam." He flipped it open and put it to his ear. "Yeah?" He listened for a moment. "On our way." He hung up.

"Sam find something?" asked Priestly.

"Yeah," said John, leading the way out of the restaurant. "He thinks he found where the demon's holed up."

***************************************SPN/TIH**** ************************************************** *****

Priestly rushed into the sub s hop, dodging the questions as he headed to Sam at the computer. "What'd you find?"

"An electrical surge in the warehouse district downtown," Sam told him. "The power company is reporting it as an overloaded transformer, but that would affect a whole grid. This is only on one block."

"Good, where?" asked Priestly anxiously as John joined them.

"Across from that run-down movie theatre," Sam said.

"Good work, Sammy," said John. "We'll gear up and hit the road."

"All of us?" asked Sam.

"Yes, all of us," said John.

"But shouldn't one of us stay behind?" asked Sam.

"You guys are talking about the guy that took Jen, right?" asked Jeff.

"We need all three of us to take him down," John argued, ignoring Jeff.

"But shouldn't we keep a back-up?" Sam pointed out.

"If we go after this guy and take him out, we won't need a back-up," John told him, impatiently.

"And that requires all of us?" said Sam.

"It'll take all of us to take care of the job," said John, his voice starting to rise.

"And who is gonna watch them to make sure nothing happens?" asked Sam, his voice also rising.

"Come on, guys," said Priestly. "Don't do this."

"If we take care of the problem, we won't have to watch them," John argued.

"Dad, we can't—" began Sam.

"That's enough, Sam," John said firmly. "We don't have time for this."

"Exactly," said Priestly. "Let's go."

"Oh, so, we're back to that now?" said Sam, his eyes narrowing angrily. "'I'm the father, so I'm in charge. No questions.'"

"Guys!" yelled Priestly, stepping in between them and shoving them apart. "We don't have time for this! Stop it!"

Sam looked at Priestly, seemingly coming to himself, and then looked back at John. "He's right. Jen needs us." He sighed in frustration. "We'll all go. We'll make sure we didn't need back-up." He strode past Priestly and John as he headed out to the Impala, not looking too happy about who had won that argument.

John glanced at Priestly before following Sam out the door. Priestly stared after them, slightly stunned.

_I just caught a glimpse of the old Sam and Dad, didn't I? _he thought, heading out after them.

************************************************** *******SPN/TIH************************************ ************************

Priestly parked his car at the corner, his eyes on the line of warehouses down the street. He saw the Impala pull up behind him in his rearview mirror, and they all got out.

Priestly walked over to Sam and John at the Impala's trunk. "Which one?"

"That's what we're gonna find out," said John, handing an EMF detector to Priestly. "You're gonna scan the buildings. You look more like you'd be hanging around this part of town." He nodded at the Mohawk, piercings, tattoos and punk clothing he'd changed back into before arriving. "Don't be obvious; they may be watching."

"Got it," said Priestly, taking the detector and heading back to his car. He pulled his ear-buds off of his iPod, closing the driver's door. "For effect."

Priestly plugged the headphones into the EMF detector, sliding it into his pocket. He headed across the street, taking his time to pretend he was just listening to music as he meandered through town. The EMF detector would whine little by little in his headphones as he passed by streetlamps and other electrical hotspots.

As he sauntered past the first deserted building, hands in his pockets, he kept his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. He made sure to keep up the appearance of just a regular guy up to no good, but it was proving hard.

_Inside one of these buildings is Jen,_ he thought.

The EMF meter began emitting a high-pitched shriek in his ear-buds, and Priestly's heart jumped. His eyes looked up slightly to his left at the abandoned textile mill next to him. He almost stopped and burst right into the building, but he knew he couldn't tip his hand or the demon, or possibly demons, would take Jen and run.

Priestly kept walking, looping around to the other side of the street and around the corner to where Sam and John were waiting, munitions at the ready. "The mill. They're in the mill."

"Okay, you two take the front," said John told them. "I'll head around back. Be careful."

"You, too," said Priestly, taking the salt gun Sam offered him.

John pulled the Colt out of his jacket and walked across the street, heading around to the next block to go in the back. Sam and Priestly made their way towards the building, the dark of the night their cover. The brothers eased the door open, being as silent as they could. Priestly kept looking around for anything jumping out at them, but the entire trek through the mill was met with no resistance.

Priestly sent a questioning glance at Sam, not wanting to open his mouth and announce their location in case there was still something waiting for them. Sam sent the same look back at him as they headed through a doorway into what had once been a break room. A blonde girl in a wedding dress and veil lay on the floor against the far wall, her hair pulled messily out of the bun and her dress spotted with dirt.

"Jen!" Priestly hissed, hurrying over to her as Sam covered him.

Priestly quietly set the salt gun on the floor as he grabbed Jen's shoulder, turning her over and sweeping the veil off of her face.

Priestly froze in shock. "What the…"

It wasn't Jen. It was her wedding dress alright, but the woman wearing it was definitely **not** Jen.

The woman's eyes opened, a pure soulless black. "Oh, look."

Priestly jumped back a little, snatching up his discarded salt gun in the process and aiming it at her.

"Jen's knight in shining armor," the demon purred at him.

Priestly narrowed his eyes at her. "Where's Jen?"

The demon smirked at him. "You know, I really must ask Jen where she shops." She rubbed her hands down the wedding gown. "Girl has style."

"Where is she?" Priestly yelled as John came through another doorway, aiming the Colt at the woman.

The demon eased herself up onto her elbows. "She's safe…for now."

"Something's wrong," said Sam.

Priestly looked back at him.

Sam glanced around the room before looking at the two of them. "This doesn't feel right."

"He's right," said John. "They should have ambushed us by now."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry," said the demon. "You're perfectly safe." Her smile widened ominously. "Can't say the same for your friends, though."

Priestly's eyes widened in horror. "Oh, my God…It is a trap…" He looked up at John, his heart pounding against his ribcage.

John stared at him in alarm. "It just isn't for us."

Priestly bolted up from the floor, tearing through the building and out the door. He ran to his car and jumped in, peeling away from the curb as he raced towards the sub shop.

_Please don't let me be too late,_ he pleaded.

Thoughts of his friends raced through his head until they landed on Tish.

_Tish wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. "Be careful."_

"_Careful's my middle name," smirked Priestly. He gave her a kiss and turned to the door, heading out to the Impala._

Priestly hit the gas a little harder. _Please don't let that have been goodbye._

As the Beach City Grill came into view, Priestly tried to see if anything was off, but the lights were still on, spilling out onto the street, just as they had left them. Priestly slammed the car to a stop across the street from the shop, flinging open the driver's door, running to the building, grabbing the door and ripping it open. He froze in the doorway at the sight before him…

The grill was completely empty.

Priestly stared around the deserted room, spotting a few drops of blood and a couple smatterings of sulfur on the floor.

"Tish!" Priestly called hesitantly, not sure what response he was hoping for. "Anybody?"

He moved through the lobby, checking out the rest of the rooms before circling back to the dining area, where Sam and John had just burst through the front door.

Priestly stared at them in desperation. "They're gone…"

**I was really tempted to end it at "He froze in the doorway at the sight before him…" but you all would have killed me, so…**


End file.
